Cat got your tongue
by zennyaann
Summary: When a strange new student joins class 1-A, she and Bakugo get off on the wrong foot. As the days pass them day they go from slinging insults and cold glares to unsure of what to say to each other. Can this new student breakthrough Bakugo's rough exterior to warm his heart. I really suck at summaries, so it's not going to do the story justice.
1. In the beginning

1 - In the beginning

Class 1 - A was now starting their second year at UA and were class 2 - A. Coming back from their spring break the students noticed that there was a new member in their class. They couldn't really see who this new person was since they had a heavy hoodie on with the hood pulled up, obscuring their face from the class.

"As you're all wonder, no none of you are being moved to one of the other classes." their homeroom teacher Aizawa started off, making the class let out a sigh of relief. "While I know there's at least one of you that should be. Principal Nezu thought it would be best for Nico to join us, so she'll be moving into the dorms later today."

"Mr. Aizawa, what about her uniform?" Iida jumped to his feet, "Clearly her clothes are not the regulation uniform required."

Aizawa went to answer but the new student had her answer ready to go. With a phone that she had kept on quick draw for such reasons, "I have an exemption for a few months with I get to know everyone. Due to my quirk I have been subject to relentless torment, so I am allowed to dress as I am for a little while." a feminan voice came from the phone, it was clear that this wasn't the first time she had been asked.

"What's with the auto answers?" Bakugo sneered, "Don't you got a mouth?"

"That was rude, Kacchan." Izuku turned and scolded him, "Couldn't you try to be a little nicer."

Bakugo only scoffed and went to find his seat, and dropped down. Nico watched him go from under her hood. She hit the button with his answer, "Again because of my quirk, my real voice is a little strange, so I will be using my phone until I feel comfortable with talking." she held his gaze for a little longer before she was swarmed by the girls in the class, grateful to finally have another female student among their ranks.

"You guys can play twenty questions on your own time, right now it's time to head to the gym for some training." Aizawa broke up the giggling girls, "Drop your bags and go get changed. And Bakugo, you've been assigned to show the new girl around today so the two of you are excused from classes for today."

"Are you sure about that?" the voice from Nico's phone asked, "It seems to me that he's an ass." a few of the others laughed into their hands at the insult.

"No one else has the time, and Nezu said it had to be him." Aizawa said as the others dropped off their bags, leaving the seat right behind Bakugo open. "Drop you bag and get going, the school is big and you only have today to get the layout."

"This is bullshit, why does it have to be me?" Bakugo slammed his hands in the desk as he got up, "Why can't one of the clucking hens take her around, I've got better things to do."

"I'd much prefer that over you," Nico continued her assault, "You're just a pompis over inflated hot air bag who too full of himself." even though no one could see her face they could tell she was glaring daggers at him.

"All this coming from a walking pile of clothes. I bet I could take you any day of the week." Bakugo boasted as he stood over her, it was only a four inch difference between them but he tried to use it to his advantage.

"I can kick your sorry ass into next year," Nico challenged, "Can we have a space tonight after dinner?" all eyes turned to Aizawa, who looked at them with a cold stare.

"If it will get you out of my classroom. But it will only be the two of them and anyone I catch trying to sneak out will get three weeks of detention."

"Tch, fine. Let's go freak, I've got better places to be." Bakugo pushed through the crowd that had gathered.

"Midoriya?" Nico tapped Izuku and the shoulder, "Is he always such a dickweed about everything?" she noticed that he was a little amazed with her.

"Kacchan can be a little rough around the edges, but he'll warm up to you eventually. If you want I can show you around later, I know Kacchan will cut things short." Izuku gave her a smile, "And you can call me by my name if you want."

"Do you mind if I shorten it? How's Izu sound?" she offered and he nodded.

"I'd like that," Izuku said as Bakugo came back and dragged her off. "I guess we'll see you later."

"Alright freak, last stop." Bakugo said as he stopped outside the dorm, "Wander around for all I care, you got me out of classes so I should thank you."

"Hey asshole, care to tell me what your problem with me is?" Nico demanded, using her phone. "You don't even know me and yet you already know that you don't like me." she got in his face, catching him off guard.

He was flustered for half a heart beat before giving her back the attitude, "Because I don't trust freaks who hide their faces." he reached for her hood but she slapped his hand before he could touch the fabric.

"You will not dare touch me, or you won't have a hand to scratch your ass with." she warned him, "As for our fight, I'll get Aizawa to bring you to me." she turned her back on him to go unpack her room.

"Don't you worry, but you'll be sorry you picked a fight with me." he shouted as she flipped him off before the door closed behind her. _Damned freak, why the hell am I worked up over nothing._ He stood outside just watching the door. _Fuck it, I'm going to take a nap. I'm so done with people for now._

He went in and saw the luggage cart loaded with a bunch of small boxes, but no sign of the hooded freak. "Snooping through a lady's belongings now, how classy." he spun to see Nico bringing down an empty cart, "Either offer to help me or move the hell out of my way."

"Tch," he scoffed letting her pass, "You yell at me about having a bad attitude but you're being a total bitch."

"Treat others as you want to be treated." she quoted, "You started being nasty to me first, while Izu on the other hand offered to make up for the lack of tour he seemed to know would happen." she watched him flinch at the mention of Izuku.

"Damn that Deku, shouldn't be talking about me like that." he muttered as she parked the empty cart out of the way. "What the hell does he know, sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong."

"Should have known you'd be mean to him too." Nico let out a real laugh, catching Bakugo off guard. It was only for a short time but he wanted to know what her voice actually sounded like. "How is it someone hasn't killed you yet?"

Bakugo ignored her comment and went to get on the elevator with her, and they both reached for the fourth floor button. "You have got to be kidding me, we're on the same floor." Nico snapped as they went up to their floor, "I better not find you trying to sneak in to snoop."

"Please, like I'd want to snoop through your crap." he flipped open a random box on the top, instantly regretting doing it.

"So you're pantie thief too, good to know." she slapped his hand away before closing the box as they got off. "I'll have to make sure to trap my room to keep you out." they watched each other through the windows as the went to their room.

"I ain't a pantie thief." Bakugo shouted as Nico flipped him off again, "and even if I was, I wouldn't be interested in yours." they slammed their doors at each other and neither came out until they heard the rest of their classmates return after classes.

Midnight had escorted the pair to one of the school's practices gyms, "I want a clean match, I will punish anyone who resorts to dirty tricks. This will be a the first to five points match, landing blows will earn you a single point." she warned both of them as she assumed they were glaring at each other, no one could see Nico's expression from under the hood. "Have you both made you preparations?" They nodded, "Good then, you may begin." she went to lean on the wall to watch the students fight out their differences.

They circled each other like a couple of alley cats fighting over territory, "Alright freak, ready to eat your words? Once I beat you, you better start showing me a little more respect." Bakugo snapped as he leaped forward to tackle her.

"And when I show you who's queen of the hill, you're going to be my partner." Nico typed out on the light keyboard on her sleeve as she dodged him easily, "you're going to learn your place."

They kept up their dance of blows as Bakugo tried to land a single hit. "You gotta be scared, you keep backing up. Just let me hit you and we can finish this."

"Not on you life, pantie thief." Nico taunted him as she continued to dodge his attacks. "But I should stop running, now that I know all I need to know." she pulled a few paper stars from the large pocket.

"You're going to fight me with paper." Bakugo laughed, "Are you even trying to win?" he mocked as she threw them past his cheeks, leaving a pair of thin twin cuts in their wake.

"Two points, Nico." Midnight called out as a scoreboard came to life next to her.

Glaring at his hooded opponent, "I won't let you get the better of me again." he directed a small explosion at her feet to trip her up, but it didn't work in his favour, it only served to get Nico airborne and coming at him with a flying kick which be managed to barely sidestep.

Nico held up two fingers, "two points Bakugo, match tied."

"Are you stupid or something? I didn't see any hits land, so why the hell would you say something?" Bakugo demand as Nico showed him her leg, the fabric was torn and there were two small burns.

Nico pulled a couple sheets of paper and quickly folded them into a dagger looking weapon. She brought it up to her face and blew something on it, "You're taking too long." Bakugo charged at her again.

A quick step to the right, she slashed at his arm with the paper knife and her score went up again. In a fit of frustration Bakugo slammed his fist into the wall and sent a large chunk at Nico, which she knew she couldn't avoid without revealing some of her quirk, so she dropped to the floor and vanished from sight leaving her baggy clothes behind.

"Where the hell did you go freak, we're not finished here." Bakugo shouted as his score only went up by one, so he knew he had got her with his last attack. When the dust settled a little, he noticed that her clothes were pinned under the chunk from the wall and a wine red cat was sitting on top of it clean its face.

Bakugo looked to Midnight, "Oi striper, I should have won. That attack should have creamed the freak."

"Your opponent can still fight, I would pay a little more attention." Midnight said as the red cat jumped up to his shoulder and started purring loudly while rubbing its head on his cheek.

Bakugo wasn't sure what was going to until a pair thin legs trapped his head in place. Nothing he did could shake whoever it was off and he could feel his energy start to drain out of him. "Damned freak, get off of me and fight like a man." when the legs withdrew, he felt two dabs on the back of his neck.

He managed to stay on his feet just long enough to see the score change for Nico, bringing her to the winning score of five. "Winner Nico Yami." Midnight called as Bakugo hit the floor, just before passing out he saw Midnight walk over to a girl with wine red hair and cat ears tail. "Is he going to alright?"

Nico nodded, freeing her clothes. "I just used a couple of pressure points, he'll be up in the morning." she sighed looking at her ruined clothing. "Can you do me a favour? I don't the others to see me like this, can you carry my gear for me while I go in as a cat?" she flattened her cat like ears against her head.

"You should be proud of the way you look, your classmates would accept you on the spot." Midnight said as she took Nico's clothes before she changed back into a cat.


	2. Neko, are you still up?

2 - Neko are you still up?

The first few weeks of school went by in a flash, Nico still hadn't gathered the courage to show her new friends her real face, but she was forced to talk without the aid of the phone since her tech had been destroyed in her fight with Bakugo.

The pair had started a routine that everyone on their floor could set their watches by. Six o'clock sharp alarms would go off and fifteen minutes later they could hear their greetings of name calling which often consist of freak and pantie thief as they went down to get some breakfast.

On the way down Nico would stop off on the second floor and wake Izuku so they could eat together. Some days a few of the others would join them but most of the time it was just the three of them. On the days they had classes, they would finish up quickly and head back up to get ready for the day by seven with another round of insults and name calling.

But as today was a Saturday and they didn't have classes, breakfast was slower and more relaxed. "So what's the plans for today?" Izuku asked as the sat around the table. "I think there was a new cafe opening up, if you wanted to go check it out."

Kirishima dropped down in the seat next to Izuku. "Yeah I think that was a cat themed cafe, you know the ones where you get to play with the little furballs."

Nico shook her head at the thought, "I'll pass thanks." she saw the hurt in Izuku's eyes when she passed. "I think I'll hit up the mall, I need to get some parts to fix up my gear that someone ruined on me." she shot of glare to Bakugo, "I had to order in parts and they finally came in. Maybe next time."

Kirishima waited for her to take a sip of her coffee, "So the little kitty doesn't want to go make friends." his comment made her spray Bakugo with coffee.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" she demanded, wiping herself off. "Did you just call me a cat?"

"Oi freak, what the fuck was that for?" Bakugo growled, "You better be doing laundry later so you can clean this." he pulled his shirt off and threw it at her.

"Aww, come on Bakugo, her reaction was priceless and I can just imagine the shocked look on her face." Kirishima laughed, "The cat's out of the bag, I know why you're always hiding under those giant hoods you like."

"Listen here Red idiot, I don't know what you think you know, but you better keep your mouth shut." Nico warned as she threw Bakugo's shirt at him, "And since you made me spray him with my coffee, you get to wash the shirt." she got up and took her dishes to the kitchen. "Who's turn is it for dinner?" she called back, there were only a few that could really cook and most nights on the weekends she would come back with take out.

"That would be me." Bakugo answered, "And I better not catch you sneaking food in, I'll kick your ass if I think you're trying to skip out on eating tonight."

"Whatever pantie thief, like you could take me." she waved him off as she went to go get dressed. "I remember kicking you ass and I have a teacher to back me up. Izu, you want to come with me to the mall or are you still going to the cafe?"

"I want to see what Ochaco's up to, I'll let you know before you head off." he answered as Nico head for the stairs. She paused to listen out of sight, to see what Kirishima would say.

"What was that all about between the two of you?" Izuku asked, "It's not like her to call you names, so why did you pick a fight with her like that Kirishima?"

"Mostly because I wanted to see Bakugo get soaked." he laughed, "But I'm pretty sure that she's hiding cat ears under that hood. From what I overheard from the girls is she wait until everyone else is finished in the bath before going in, and if one of them goes into her room she's still got it on."

_Shit, I knew I should have been more careful._ Nico leaned her head back against the wall. _I'm going to have to step up my game and make sure that no one finds out._

"What if she's all ugly under there? Did you ever think of that?" Bakugo chimed in, "You're thinking she all cute and cat like, but I think she's hideous and that why she won't show us."

"Kacchan, that's rude. You're the only one that could have gotten a look so far." Izuku jumped in, "So what can you tell us?"

Bakugo blushed a little at the memory of the legs that wrapped around his head, "I blacked out before I could see anything." he went and dumped his dishes in the sink, "Don't you morons have better things to do with your time than grilling me?" Nico didn't have much time to move before Bakugo came around the corner and found her listening in. "Now look who's snooping." he smirked down at her, still a little pink.

"Screw up, I'm not the one blushing like a schoolgirl with a crush." Nico shot back at him. "But I do have a question, why didn't you tell them what you saw?"

"And what was it I saw exactly, I blacked out remember." he continued past her up the stairs, "You do have great legs by the way." he said, knowing that she was turning a bright red under her hood.

"Pantie raiding asshole!" She shouted up after him, choosing to take a different way up to her room, it didn't help any as he was standing at the window across from his door waiting to taunt her some more. Before going to change she just flipped him off, and he gestured to his room, flustering her some more.

"Why the hell are you following me?" Nico snapped at Bakugo as he walked with he through the mall with her. "I don't need an escort."

"Please like I'd want to be caught dead walking around with you, the game store is in the same direction." he scoffed, "You're getting pretty full of yourself, thinking I'm here to keep you company."

Nico turned to face him, "Liar, the game store is by the food court. You're following me." she jabbed a finger into his chest. "I think you're waiting for an opening to see if Kirishima was right, that's the only explanation."

"Pfft, if I really want to, I could have easily do it in the mornings when we're heading down for food." he took a step closer, "In the time it takes you to get to Deku's room there is plenty of time for me to attack. So you want to try that again."

"You looking to get your ass handed to you again." she held her ground, "I can do that for you again, any time you want." Nico didn't want to show weakness in front of him, but since he made the comment on her legs, she couldn't help but blush a little.

"I think you'd like to do something different." he grinned at her, sensing her growing discomfort. "You didn't have a problem wrapping your legs around me during our fight."

"I'm done with you, go do whatever the hell you want." Nico huffed as she turned away, heading to the electronics store to get her order. "You could drown for all I care, I hate you so very much." she muttered as she heard him laugh from behind her.

Nico didn't stop or even risk a look over her shoulder to see if he was still following her as she when into the store. "Oh Nico, perfect timing I was just about to take my lunch, want to join me?" the younger man behind the counter asked as she came up to him.

"Can I give you a rain check, Mark? I need to get back and fix up my gear." she could see he was a little disappointed. "How much do I owe you? And did everything come in?" she reached for her wallet but Mark just handed her the box.

"It's all here and someone paid for it already." he said when she went to ask, "Yeah he came in like an hour ago and settled the bill, muttered something about that it was his fault your gear was smashed." Mark just shrugged, "I don't really care who's paying as long as one steals from me."

"Thanks again for calling all this in for me, I'll come back if there's anything else I need to fix." Nico said as she tried waving and balancing her box. "Say hi to your dad for me too." she did her best to walk through the crowds of shoppers without knocking into anyone.

"Hey freak, need a hand with that it looks heavy." she heard Bakugo's favourite name for her come from somewhere close by. "A girl like you shouldn't be forced to carry something so heavy." Nico turned to see him coming out of the game shop that was close by.

"Why did you pay for this, I didn't need you to do that." she kept walking, taking a few sidesteps making sure to avoid walking into a pack of little kids.

Bakugo didn't give her another chance to argue, "Give it here, clearly you need help." he took the box from her and shoved his bag into her hands. "How did you even pick this up, what the hell do you even buy?"

"I need to basically build my gear from nothing, it's going to take a lot of work to get it working again." Nico got curious and peeked into the bag she was carrying. "You actually play these kinds of games?" she noticed the title was one of her favourites, "when we get back I guess I'll have to send you a game request and show you how a real gamer plays."

Bakugo barked out a laugh, "Please, I'd kick your digital ass so hard you'll actually feel it." he noticed the time as they passed the food court. "If you want to thank me for paying for all this, you can get us some lunch." he found a free table to put the box down on and took his bag back. "Get something extra spicy for me, that thai place has the best noodles in the area." he pointed to a small place that didn't have much of a line.

"Alright, just don't go messing with my stuff." she left him to get the food.

Bakugo watched Nico's every step, the way that her hips swayed and the bounce of her ass. He could make it out even under all the baggy clothes she had on. _What the hell is wrong with me, I owe her for kicking my ass so why as I going out of my way to be nice._ He scolded himself, clearly confused with what he had been doing. _What the hell didn't I tell Kiri about what I saw before passing out, that would have put her in her place._

He had been wrapped up in his thought that he didn't notice the food in front of him until Nico slid into the seat across from him. "You must really eat there a lot, the owner threw in a mango drink for you." her voice pulled him back to reality.

"What the hell is with all the chocolate milk?" he asked when he saw the three large cartons in front of her, "You got a problem or something?"

She waved off his questions, "Let's go with or something. Now eat up, I have to get started on my repairs."

Nico quickly inhaled her dinner and practically ran back to her room to keep working, she didn't want to have such a long break but she also didn't want anyone coming in to bug her about eating.

Bakugo had finished up in the kitchen, prepping some stuff for breakfast the next morning a little after eleven before heading up to bed. He paused by the window that he would sling insults at Nico from and noticed that her night was still on.

Before he could start heading over to check on her, he watched Izuku go up and knock on the door with a small wrapped plate in his hand. _Why should I care if that dumbass is going to see her, it's not like we're going out or anything. _Bakugo turned his back to the window and turned in for the night.

Izuku lightly knocked twice and when he didn't get an answer he got a little worried that something was wrong and tried the knob finding it was unlocked. "Nico, are you still up?" he asked peeking in.

She was sitting at a small table in a pair of small shorts and a spaghetti strap tank top, it was the first time he had seen any girl wearing so little. Once he got over the shock of how much exposed skin he was seeing Izuku took in the thin cat tail that was lazily swishing along the floor and the pair of wine red cat ears that sat on the top of her head.

He noticed that she was working on something while listening to something with a pair of white headphones, _I guess that's why she didn't hear me._ He took a step closer and her tail stopped its movement and one of the cat ears turned his way.

"Nico?" Izuku said as she spun on him with three paper stars ready for a fight. "Sorry for barging in like this, but I thought you might want something to eat since you didn't really eat much dinner." he held out the plate in front of him in hopes she wouldn't attack.

She carefully took the headphones out, "If I didn't answer, it wasn't an invitation to come in." Nico growled, closing the distance between them. "So you found out what I look like, congratulations. Who dared you to do it?"

Izuku shook his head, "No one, I just wanted to make sure that you weren't hungry. We're the last two up and I was concerned."

She looked down that the plate, and there were five homemade rice balls. "Well, thank you." Nico snatched the plate from him, "but you need to leave, I have to get back to work." she shoved him back towards the door, "You better not tell anyone about me, or so help me I'll kill you."

"I promise, no one will find out from me." he swore as he backed out into the hall, "goodnight then." he could help feel like he betrayed her somehow.

"Night Izu." she whispered, closing and locking the door before going back to work. _I should have been more careful, now I'm going to hide out until Monday to make sure no one knows._ She felt bad that she had treated Izuku so roughly, but he should have known better to sneak into a girl's room like that.


	3. The cat's out of the bag

3 - The cat's out of the bag

Bakugo rolled over the slam him hand on the alarm clock that was screaming at him. He hadn't slept much after watching Izuku standing outside Nico's door. _Why can't I think of anything else? It shouldn't bother me._ He rolled out of bed and made his way down to the kitchen.

As he walked, Bakugo noticed that he didn't have Nico calling him names. _She's probably sleeping in because she was working all night._

It wasn't until he got to the main floor and found a note on the table saying that Nico was going to be working all day and if someone could bring her a couple of meals during the day it would be greatly appreciated.

"Morning Kacchan," Izuku greeted him on his way to the fridge. "Nico didn't come down with you today?"

"What's it matter to you, I'm not her keeper." he snapped, shoving the note into Izuku's hands. "I'm going for a run." he didn't bother going to change, and stormed out leaving a very confused Izuku standing in the kitchen with a crumpled note in his hand.

Just as he opened the front door, Bakugo was almost tripped over a dark red blur running between his legs and disappearing inside. Spinning around he just made out the blur dashing up the stairs, _What the fuck was that? Whatever it was was on a mission._ He debated chasing after it, but decided that it wasn't his problem and went to clear his head.

As the day went on, the only time Nico was seen outside her room was only when she really needed to, and even then it was only a few minutes at a time. Bakugo noticed that all of the girls came by at one point or another to check on her or trying to coax her out with offers spending time on the town but each time they were turned away with a promise that next weekend they could do a girls day out.

By the time dinner rolled around even some of the guys were getting worried, Denki, Kirishima and Sero had even tried to get her to go with them to the arcade, but nothing worked. So when the replacement meal for the very torched dinner was delivered, Bakugo was done with watching everyone trying to get her out to join them.

"Kacchan, can I ask you something?" Izuku's voice pulled him from his thoughts as he stood by the window, "Did you actually not see anything when you had your fight with Nico?"

"Like I keep saying moron, I blacked out. So no I don't know anything." Bakugo lied, he felt it wasn't his place to say anything while the others all took turns guessing what was she actually looked like.

"Oh ok then," Izuku looked across to Nico's room, "What if Kirishima was right with his guess yesterday, and that's why she's been avoiding everyone today?" he looked guilty about something and it grated on Bakugo's last nerve.

Turning to face Izuku, he fought against spending the runt through the wall. "Why did you do last night? I saw you at her door and now she's acting weird." Bakugo snarled, "You were the last one to see her, so what did you do?"

"Nothing I just went to make sure that she had a little something to eat before I turned in and now she's avoiding everyone." Izuku snapped back, "If anything, it would be your fault that she's like this. You're always going out of your way to pick fights with her."

"Tch, you dumbass I only pick fights with her because she started it on the first day." he stepped around Izuku and head around to Nico's door. _I've had enough of this bullshit, someone needs to pull her head out of her ass._

Nico was stretched out on the bed, she had finished her work just a little after lunch and had spent the afternoon dealing with the waves of people coming to get her to leave and taking little cat naps. She had expected to hear Bakugo pounding on the door, demanding her to come out and fight him, but he didn't so much as come in one of the clusters.

_Why the hell does it bother me so much that he didn't come to yell through the door at me?_ Her tail twitched restlessly as she looked at the table, the pair of comms she had been working on waiting to be given to their owners.

On top of the repairs to her own she had made two new one for Izuku and Bakugo, the only two she really got along with and thought it would be useful to be able to get in touch with them whenever she wanted.

But with what happened the night before with Izuku, she was starting to doubt if she would ever find a place where she felt comfortable. "You better be dressed in there, I'm pulling your sulking ass out of there." she shot up as Bakugo slammed into the door as it swung in. "Clearly you're feeling sorry for yourself for no reason, let's go you missed dinner." he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing.

"Put me down you asshole!" she shouted, pounding her fists into his back. "If I had wanted to eat I would have taken it when Denki brought it up for me." she tried to fight against his grip, but she couldn't seem to break it.

"Just shut your trap will you, screaming in my ear like that ain't going to help." he walked past Izuku and started to head downstairs. "So what if you have a tail and cat ears, it's not like you have ten eyes or something gross like that."

"Kacchan this is a little much don't you think?" Nico looked up to see Izuku following close behind them, "Just let her go."

She made one last effort to break free without having to resort to changing into a cat. "I'm going to kick your ass so hard Bakugo, you won't ever forget pissing me off." she said as she shifted and kicked off his arm and landed on Izuku.

She only stayed on his shoulder for a moment while Bakugo turned to grab at her. "Come on, you're acting like a brat. No one is going to hate you, in fact I'm sure they'll actually like knowing the real you." he said as she jumped down and bolted down the stairs. "Fuck, nobody open the door and grab that cat." he shouted chasing after her.

Most of the class was gathered in the common area going over what little homework they hadn't finished as the dark red cat sped past followed by a fuming Bakugo. "Get back here you furball, you can't run forever."

Momo and Ochaco came into the dorm laughing about something as the pair charged at them, "Close the damn doors." they looked over to see Nico make a sharper turn than Bakugo could make and caught him before they all ended up on the floor.

"Ah, Bakugo why are you chasing around that poor cat?" Ochaco asked as Izuku helped her up, "Did it steal you dinner or something?"

"That ain't no ordinary cat, that's Nico pitching a fit because she didn't want to leave her room." he explained taking off after her again. "Now will you get back here already."

"I'm sorry, but did he just say that was Nico?" Momo asked as they watch a few of the others join Bakugo in his cat wrangling attempt. "So she's got a shapeshifting quirk, I didn't expect that. So she probably she some feline characteristics when she in in a human form and that's why she's been hiding from us."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah I found out about that part last night when I snuck up on her. I didn't expect that to be honest, but she doesn't seem pleased with Kacchan right now." There was a loud hiss and a long string of cursing from Bakugo.

"What the hell was that for? Your the idiot that won't listen." he barked as Nico used him as a springboard and jumped onto Kirishima's shoulder. "Why don't you want to just change back so everyone can meet you properly." Nico waited for him to try to get closer before jumping off of Kirishima, turned and shifted so she could knock him into Bakugo before changing back and running off again.

"You shouldn't be so rough with her Bakugo, clearly this is a sore spot for her." Kirishima managed to keep his footing and he caught his friend by the shoulders. "You've never seen a stray cat in a new home, they don't like to be cornered or man handled. She'll come out on her own, you just need to have a little patience."

"Or you could always try catnip." a quiet shy voice got their attention, "It'll depend on how much of the cat takes over, you could try a catnip toy to draw her out." Koji explained as he pulled out a little stuffed looking mouse from a pocket.

"You couldn't have offered this sooner." Bakugo snapped as he snatched the cat toy. "So what we just toss it somewhere and wait for her to come out if she even likes it." he looked it over as Koji nodded.

"Maybe you should leave her alone, clearly Nico's upset with us over this." Izuku said as they heard the sound of light paws padding back to the sitting area. "Or I could be wrong."

"Ha, so you want the little mouse." Bakugo taunted Nico by swinging the toy by its tail, seeing her eyes and tail follow it's movement. "Well it's going to cost you, introduce yourself properly and it's all yours." he grinned when she growled at him before shifting back.

"I so fucking hate you." she growled, "I'm Nico Gatta, and as you can clearly see I've got a beast form quirk." Nico said with her ears flat against her head in embarrassment. "But that's not my only one, I call my other quirk Optimize but I can show that one off later." she snatched the toy mouse from Bakugo and stormed off.

Nico ignored the calls for her to come back and vanished into one of the unused rooms on the second floor. _I can't believe he outed me like that, will I guess the cat's out of the bag._ She laughed at herself for using the one phrase that always got her fur in a bunch. She looked down mouse in her hand, and glared at it. _I hate Bakugo so much right now, but I guess he just enjoys in tormenting me for some reason._

She could hear everyone downstairs coming to look for her, so she slipped into the closet incase someone came looking into the room. She didn't want anyone to find her just yet, putting off the endless questions and the laser pointers until another time.

Her timing couldn't have been better, just as she sat down someone opened the door. "She's not in here." she heard Izuku call out to the others. "Maybe she went out the back. We shouldn't bother her right now anyways, Nico seemed pretty upset with almost everyone."

"Izu, you alone?" Nico stuck her head out of the closet.

"Yeah, but if you want I can call the others back." he offered coming to find where she had called him from.

"No, I just want you to sit with me for a little while before they all start asking stupid qeustions and irritating me with laser pointers." she opened the closet door, but didn't come out. "It happens every time someone finds out about my cat form and it gets to the point that I can't stand to be around anyone."

"I can't speak for Kacchan, but I'm sure the rest of the gang won't do stuff like that." he tried to make her feel better, "I mean at first maybe, but after a while they'd let it slide."

"Is Bakugo always this cruel, or am I special?" Nico found herself rolling the little mouse around in her hand. "He didn't have to chase me around like that, I was content hiding in my room."

Izuku bit back a laugh as he watched her, "I think he was worried about you, it wasn't like you not to spend time with everyone. If I had to guess, he missed you this morning, he was out of it all day."

"Actually he almost tripped over me when he was leaving for his run this morning." She tossed the mouse to Izuku, "I'm starving now, think there's something left over from dinner?"

"Yeah we made sure that there was some left over for you." he held out his hand for her, "Come on, I'll run crowd control while you eat."

While the rest of their friends tried peppering Nico with questions, Izuku and Bakugo had appointed themselves her unofficial bodyguards and kept everyone at a reasonable distance until she was ready to field their unending questions.

And as she expected, someone had found a laser pointer and tried to get her to chase after the red dot. She watched as the light dance across the floor and table and did her best to ignore it but eventually she broke down and tried grabbing for it, clearly know she wouldn't be able but she gave into to her nature and chased after it.


	4. What was it that happens to curious cats

4 - What was it that happens to curious cats?

"All right, part of you hero training this year is learning how to work with a partner." Aizawa got the class's attention. "With our now uneven numbers we're going to have one team of three, Gatta you are with Bakugo and Midoriya." he went down the list pairing everyone else off.

"So looks like they stuck to our deal, but why'd we get stuck with Deku?" Bakugo turned around to see Nico, she was still wearing her hoodie, but while they were in class she had the hood down.

She gave him a half smile, "So what, you want to have me all to yourself pantie thief?" She leaned forward, "Should I be touched that you don't want to share?"

"Whatever, so we doing the training on Saturday?" he asked trying not to let her question make him uneasy.

"If you give me a second I can find out." she scribbled a quick note onto one her stars and threw it to Izuku when she knew Aizawa wasn't looking. As always it landed right where she wanted without a sound.

They watched as he read and shook his head, "Looks like you get your wish," she noticed a light tint of pink cross cheeks. "We can go and we can catch him up on Sunday." Nico offered, "That is if you don't have plans."

Bakugo waved her off, "We should all go together, I'll sign go us up for next week." he went and told Aizawa their plan while she filled Izuku in on their plan.

"Normally we would set up training camps to test your skill levels together, but after all that has been happening the last year it's not really needed. For the most part we matched up those who's quirks complement each other or the partners are those who have proven that they can work well together." Aizawa continued explaining how they were matched up. "For the next few months the teachers are going to be springing surprise attacks on you and testing to see how well you and your partner handle the situation. At the end of the allotted time, the team with the highest score gets the first pick of class trip destinations."

"We gotta get this." Nico hissed at Bakugo, "I've only got one place I want to go and I want to make sure we get there."

"The daily scores will be updated and posted in the common areas of the dorms," Aizawa shouted over the bell, "One last thing, the team with the lowest score will have to stay behind and get remedial lessons while everyone else is on the trip."

Thankfully it was the end of the day, because Nico grabbed her teammates and dragged them behind her. "I will not be doing extra lessons because of you two, I will be getting top spot and getting to pick where we're going." she demanded of them.

"This is really important to you, isn't it?" Izuku noticed that she had forgotten about her hood in her excitement. "I already promised my mom that I'd go see her this weekend, but if you two wanted to get a head start on the team training without me, it might actually help."

"Of course it's important, we'd get to pick where the class goes on our trip we'd have to make it a good choice." Nico remembered something and started digging through her bag. "I forgot in all the excitement the other night, I made these for you two." she held out the pair of devices and what looked like a bracelet to each of them. "It's the exact same as mine, the cuff reads your vitals and monitors them and will send the other two if something spikes." she pulled up her sleeve and showed them.

"So what's the screen for then?" Izuku took his set and looked it over. He noticed a small red stone in the middle of the cuff and Bakugo had a clear one.

"That's the cool part, once you get put the cuff on make a fist and turn your arm over." she smiled as Izuku did as she said, "Come on, I'm not going to be telling you this again." Nico waited for Bakugo before explaining anymore.

"Alright I already programmed all my info in there for you so you'll be able to find me at any time. There's two ways you can scroll, from the screen itself or the keyboard on your arm."

"This seems something like Mei would make. These are amazing, you came up with this on your own?" Izuku asked as Nico blushed a little.

"I worked on the prototype with her, I needed some work done on my costume and we got talking." her ears flattened out, "she was the first person here I really opened up to and it would spend my lunches in the support class with her as we worked."

"With skills like this, why not go that route? Any hero would love tech like this."

Nico's expression changed, but she didn't say anything. "So this is why your order was so big when you went to pick it up." Bakugo changed the subject when he noticed that she went quiet.

"Yeah, I wanted to find a way to thank the both of you so being nice to me." she looked at the guys in front of her, "You both have been making me feel more comfortable in your own ways."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. Once this team thing is over I want a rematch and this time don't you think about stripping to distract me." he laughed as Nico punched him.

"I had to shift and most of my clothes don't change with me. You shouldn't have thrown that chunk of wall at me." she shoved Bakugo as they started walking again, "I wouldn't have walked away from that if I hadn't."

"I'm sorry, what happened?" Izuku asked as he caught up, "Kacchan, you tried killing her on the first day, are you insane?"

Nico started telling Izuku about their fight, with Bakugo cutting in every time he felt she had missed or was telling something wrong.

Izuku had left right after classes were done on Friday, leaving Nico and Bakugo to figure out a little bit of their team strategies. There early morning routines worked in their favour because they could talk things over freely without having to worry about being overheard.

So they had agreed to work on combo attacks for the two of them while they could and hope that they didn't get attack while they were short a teammate. Nico grabbed a giant carton of chocolate milk that she had written her name on so no one would dream of stealing it out from under her and headed to see their class's leaderboard where they sat in the middle of.

"We need some more points," she found they had dropped two places, "We need something that will shock the shit out of the teachers, dazzle them at least."

Nico drummed her fingers on the carton as she thought, Bakugo scanned the top three places, "what we need is some way to communicate without them knowing, but we can't be obvious about it." they both looked to the bottom of the board, "At least we're not Sero and the tiny perv, looks like they're going to miss out one hell of a trip."

Nico's tail made sharp flicks as she thought, "Landmarks." she suddenly said, catching Bakugo off guard and making him jump a little. "What if we used landmarks and big cities as a code for our attacks and maneuvers. We'd be able to communicate and confuse at the same time."

"That could work, but we would have to change it up after a few attacks so they don't catch on." he could see where she was going with her idea, "But we also can't rely on me and Deku doing all the fighting, while we have quirks made for battle, we can't leave all the support to you if they target you again."

In their last encounter, the teacher had focused the majority of their attacks on her. "I know, I got completely destroyed." Nico groaned out, "I need to bring my hand to hand combat up some more."

"I wouldn't say that," Bakugo blurted out, "I just mean you're pretty strong as it is, we just need to work on bringing a little more focus to your hits."

They both looked away from each other, feeling a little awkward with his half complement. "I'm going to go, you know, get ready for training." Nico stumbled over her words, looking for a reason to put distance between them.

As she walked away, Bakugo couldn't help but notice two faint marks just above her left ankle. _That must have been where she was burned, I wonder if she hates me for that?_ "Oi cat freak, how's your leg?" he called out to her before she got to far.

Nico paused and looked down at her ankle, "Barely even notice them now," she looked back at him over her shoulder, "But thanks for caring pantie thief. Now come on we have to get ready for training, I want to be top of the board."

They had gone for hours, Nico trying to dodge and avoid Bakugo's while trying to get her own hits in. By the end of the day both of them were sprawled out on their backs panting, "We should head back, wouldn't want to get locked in." Bakugo lightly kicked the sole of her foot.

"Nya," she swiped at him, "You didn't go easy on me and on you expect me to walk home, you're out of your damned mind." she was so tired that it took a lot out her just to do that.

Bakugo looked around to make sure that they were alone, "Give me your hands." she lifted her arms and he yanked her up then slung her over his shoulder, "Don't go thinking you're special, I'm only doing this because I wasn't going to leave you behind."

"Right because it would be inconvenient if your statigest got left behind somewhere." Nico huffed, letting him carry her around like a sack of potatoes. "You won't get too far without me, you need me more than I need you."

He laughed, "Ok whatever makes you feel better. I just didn't want you to get caught by a teacher on your own like this, could cost us points." he could hear a low purring sound, it turned out that Nico had passed out before they got back to the dorm.

_Shit, now what am I going to do, I can't leave her in the common area, so it's on me to put her in bed._ It was a good thing that they were on the same floor, so he dropped his bag by the stairs and took Nico to her room.

He looked around the room, the last time he had been in there he only picked her up so he didn't get a good look around. It wasn't like any girl's room he expected, it wasn't too pink and overly girly, Nico had a couple racks of games and movies on either side of a small tv and the small table she had been working at was leaning against the wall and out of the way. While there wasn't a lot in the room it made Bakugo feel like it suited her just fine.

Carefully he got Nico off of his shoulder and laid her down, before he could leave she dug her nails into the bottom of this shirt. "Mama, be safe today." she mumbled before letting him go and rolling over.

What Nico said shocked him, he knew she would go quiet every time someone asked about her family, so to hear her telling her mother to be safe made him start to wonder what happened at make her avoid the subject. On his way out a couple of pictures on her desk caught his attention, one was of a happy looking family and the other was of a huge black cat looking down at a small dark red kitten who was holding her tail in her mouth looking all proud of herself.

_I guess the black one is one of her parents, god she looks like an idiot here._ He laughed a little putting the picture back, _What the hell is wrong with me, I'm going soft or something._ He shook his head, not sure of why he wanted to know more about her and why she never wanted to talk about her family.

Nico woke up earlier than usual since she passed out before they got home. _God I hurt, I'm not training with Bakugo today._ She rolled her shoulders then stretched out her back, _Wait a second, what the hell am I doing in bed? I would have figured he would have just dumped my ass on a couch downstairs._

She looked down at her clock and saw there was still half an hour before her alarm went off, which meant the rest of the house was still sleeping and she could take her time in the bath. So she gathered up a change of clothes, her supplies and went to enjoy a long soak.

What she hadn't counted on was Bakugo not being able to sleep with the battle that was raging inside his head. He wanted to know more about Nico but wasn't sure why he even cared, just because every time she looked sad about something he wanted to do everything in his power to make her laugh and smile again.

Since he couldn't sleep and the alarm was going to be going off soon anyways he got up and headed for the bath, if he was lucky, no one else would be up and he could figure out why he had a certain cat girl on his mind.

It didn't take Nico long to get cleaned up and relaxed in the tub, she started humming out one for her favourite songs to herself, it had always had a calming effect when this time of year came around.

Early spring was always the worst for Nico because it made her think of her family. She missed them and it was almost time to go for a visit, which was always the worst for her since she's always come home and cry her eyes out.

Nico had only been seven years old when the news that her parents had died protecting some big important diplomat overseas, while they died doing something they loved it always made her feel sad that they had left her at such a young age while she was still trying to figure out her quirks.

For a little while she hated them for leaving and the diplomat for making them go but after finding some old pictures and home movies Nico had found a new path for herself, she wanted to be a hero just like her parents had been, she wanted to make them proud of her.

With a sigh, she pulled herself out of the water and finally got dressed once she started to hear some of the others starting to wake up. Coming out while rubbing her towel over her hair she almost walked right into Bakugo.

"Watch where you're going cat freak. I didn't think you'd be up after crashing last night." he got her attention by flicking her forehead.

Rubbing the spot between her eyes, "Of course I'd be up early, you damn near tried to kill me yesterday." she looked at him and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. The sight of him like that shorted out her brain, and she couldn't really think of what else she had wanted to say.

"Have you seen if the board updated yet?" he asked not noticing that she was staring at his bare torso.

"Abs." She blurted as he lifted and eyebrow at her, "Absolutely it should have changed by now." Nico dashed past him, hoping he would catch on to her obvious blunder. "Come on, let's see if there has been any movement."

Nico only stopped long enough to see that they had reclaimed their placement from the day before, "There must have been teachers around to see us going all out." she looked to see who had top spot and noticed the date. "Hey you think you and Izu and handle a day without me on friday? I got something to do and I'm going to be gone all day."

"Tch, I could handle anything thrown our way on my own." He tried boasting, but when it didn't get a reaction from her, he looked over so see her walking away. "Everything alright?"

"You should know what happens to curious cats, it doesn't end well for them." she warned not turning around. "I'm skipping out on people today, I'll be down for dinner so you don't have to worry about me."

The week passed without any big incidents, but because she was so distracted by midweek their team had fallen to near the bottom. Izuku tried to comfort her about it while Bakugo grumbled and complained. Nico gave them a half hearted promise that they will get back to the top in no time.

Even though she had turned off her alarm the night before, Nico was up at six since it had become a habit at this point. _I could hide out here until everyone leaves that way I don't have to face the questions of where I'm going._ She sighed laying on her back, but that didn't help because she became restless in no time and gave up on hiding.

She didn't get dressed yet, she had almost an hour before she had to meet All Might at the main gate. It was the only way she could get permission to leave the school grounds during the week was to have a teacher take her, so she agreed to have him drive her out to the cemetery and back.

"What the hell are you doing up, I thought you didn't have to go to class today." Bakugo's voice grabbed her attention from the kitchen. "Why bother getting up if you don't need to."

"I couldn't sleep, I thought I should eat before getting dressed." she tried to not sound miserable. "It's going to be a while before I'll get the chance to eat again." giving up on trying to find something to eat, Nico turned around to see Bakugo and Izuku with a small tray of food. "Is that for me? You didn't have to go out of your way for me."

"We thought you might be hungry and not wanting to bother with people this morning." Izuku held out the tray, "You've been off all this week, so we thought this would cheer you up a little." he offered her a small smile.

Their sweet gesture warmed her somber mood a little, "Thank you, it must have taken you a while to make all this." she smiled down at the waffles that were clearly homemade. "Can either of you tell me what a waffle is?" she looked at them to see them staring at her as if she'd lost her mind. "A pancake with abs." she laughed at her own horrible joke as the guys just groaned.

"Go eat and no jokes." Bakugo ordered pushing her out of the kitchen, "Like you said it's going to be a long day for you."

"I really mean it, thank you so very much for everything and I'm sorry for bringing us down." she went and ate while they got changed for the day ahead for them.


	5. Shadow Panther

A/N: As I can't find the year that this is taking place, I just filled in the blanks with an 'X'. If I can get at least three people who can agree on a time frame I'll go back and fix that part up. I also want to give everyone a huge thanks for the support, I was shocked to see how well this story is doing so far and I hope that I can keep up the quality that everyone seems to like. Zenn -

5 - Shadow Panther

Nico had worn the same thing on the day she went to visit her parents' grave, an old leather jacket that had belonged to her mother and a black ribbon with a bell on her tail. It was the only time she ever did anything like that, her mother had to keep a bell on her at all times because she had a habit of wandering off without a sound.

She looked down at the choker in her hand, the pendant was a large tiger's eye stone that her aunt had given her for getting into UA, it had been a family tradition to give the children a special stone when they came of age to mark their rank within the family. The tiger's eye was the stone given to the one that was going to be the third in command, to be an adviser to the head of the family.

With one last look in the mirror as she put on the choker and to make sure that she looked alright, she knew that she look was complete. "I wish you guys could see me now, you'd be so proud." she fixed the picture of her and her parents before heading back down.

Nico came down to the common area to see her teammate not in their uniforms. Both of them had on a nice pair of pants and a dress shirt, "Well you two look fabulous, where are you going?" her voice brought their attention to her.

"All Might said we were coming with you today." Izuku answered, "You look amazing, almost like some kind of action star."

"Thanks, I've never heard anyone call me that before." Nico looked over to see Bakugo drooling a little, "See something you like?" she laughed as he looked away with a little blush tinting his cheeks.

"Shut up, it's just the first time you hadn't covered up with one of those stupid sweaters." he growled, "Any idea why we're being dragged along with you?"

She shook her head, "No, I was forced into having a teacher take me but I didn't expect them to send you two as well." she didn't want them to see her at her weakest and most vulnerable, but she would just make an excuse to hide out later. "I'm glad that I'll be able to introduce to guys to my parents."

"You still haven't told us much about them," Izuku said as she passed them, "Are they some kind of big time heros?"

"They were." was all she said on the matter, "Come on, we're going to be leaving soon."

For the most part Nico paid little attention to the chatter from the others, only listening just enough to know when to give an answer. She kept her answers to a couple of words and to the point, she didn't really feel like talking much and just leaned her head against the window and watched the scenery pass by.

Once they were out of the car, Bakugo watched as Nico hesitating. _Well that does explain why she always avoids the questions about her parents. But why not say something about why she was so off the last few days?_

The sound of Nico's bell brought him out of his thoughts, she had taken off running toward a couple that hadn't been too far off. "Auntie Nina, Uncle Nicolas, sorry we took so long getting here." she flung herself at the mountain of a man with jet black hair.

"Don't you worry about it runt, we just got here too. The rest of the family had come and gone, just the way you like it." he caught her without a second thought, "We've missed you since school started." Nico rubbed her cheek against his with a huge smile on her face.

"Stop spoiling her, Nick. We can't have her getting all sappy every time she sees you." the blonde woman snapped as he put Nico back down. "I thought I told you to stop jumping at him like that Kit, your mother trusted me with making sure ready to take your position." she continued to scold Nico as she flattened her ears down.

"Sorry auntie, I just missed both of you so much." Nico said, then looked back to the others, "I was sent with friends, I'd like for you to meet Izuku Midoriya and Katuski Bakugo."

As they got closer both boys could see that Nico's aunt and uncle both had cat like ears and tail. They also saw the they had the same gold coloured eyes as Nico "Guys this is my aunt Nina and my uncle Nicolas, they are my mama's brother and sister."

"NIce to meet you," Izuku offered his hand out to Nick. "It's been a great time getting to know your niece."

"Doesn't someone have manners." Nina commented scanning Bakugo, "You're the ones Nico writes about, it's good to know that we can trust her to you while she's at school."

"God, will you ease up sis, the old man isn't here you can relax." Nick shook Izuku's hand then lifted Nico up to his shoulder. "Come on little miss, you've got someone to say hello to."

They stopped by a grave that looked well looked after and had all kinds of offerings left, from flowers to small plates of food. "Hi Mama, Papa." Nico whispered as she slid down from Nick's shoulder. "I brought friends with me this year, Izu and Bakugo have been the best since I changed classes."

Bakugo noticed that there had been a picture left by someone, it was a copy of one of the ones Nico had in her room. Watching her place an offering of her own, he caught sight of the names. Nami 'Shadow Panther' Gatta 2XXX-2XXX and Parker 'Wiz gear' Gatta 2XXX-2XXX.

"My sister was the strongest of the three of us, so when our family was offered a protection detail there was no hesitation for her. Parker was asked to go along to make sure the security systems were running at the highest possible settings, he was always working the same jobs as Nami since they left school." Nina explained when she caught the boys staring. "It was only supposed to be a simple few days making sure everything was under control, but there was an attack and we lost both of them."

"Nico was only seven when we took her, and it was a rough couple years. She's changed since meeting you two, I don't know what you've done but don't change it." Nick added clapping Bakugo on the shoulder. "You actually managed to get her out of those oversized sweaters she lived in."

"She still wears them during class, but she's started leaving the hood down more often." Izuku admitted, "When did that even start?"

"For a few months after we lost Nami, all the kids in her school would poke fun at her for one reason or another. No matter what she tried nothing changed so we thought it would be better to move her to a different school and that was when she started keeping her ears and tail hidden." Nick gave the small girl a sad look, "It doesn't help that she's the runt compared to all the other kids in the family, so they would pick on her for it too, so she used the baggy clothes as a shield against the world."

"I may be the runt of the litter, but you taught me to kick ass." Nico boasted, wiping her face a little. "And while I still haven't taken you down, someday I will and then I'll be able to be a hero like my parents." she held out her fist to Nick, who bumped it with his own.

"You can try little miss, but don't you get in over your head." he laughed ruffling up the hair between her ears. "You should get back to school, but the three of you need to come for a visit sometime soon."

"We'll come by soon enough, if anything comes up I want to know." Nico waved before grabbing onto the guys and dragged them behind her.

"I'll hold you to that," Nick called after them, "And you two better look after our Kit, I don't want to have to come looking for you." he warned with a huge smile on his face. The boys knew that even while he was smiling, the ever real threat of him hunting them down shook them a little.

Once back at the dorm, Nico disappeared into her room saying something about homework she wanted to get ahead on. They knew she was lying, but let her go since they knew better than to press the matter.

"I wonder why she hadn't said anything about her parents before, we would have understood." Izuku mused as he watched Bakugo drop onto of the couches. "I guess there still so much we don't know about her. I would have thought she would have wanted people to know her parents were heroes."

"You're being a dumbass. Would you go around saying that you were connected to a hero family and painting a target on yourself?" Bakugo snapped at him, "Just because she's here doesn't mean she's safe from villains, you should know that." he thought about what Nick had said about how Nico would hide away from the world, keeping her guard up all the time.

"I guess you've got a point," Izuku started to say when the sound of Nico's bell caught his attention. He looked over to see her coming down the stairs with a small stack of videos and a couple of boxes of tissues in her hands.

"Normally I would watch these on my own and have a good long ugly cry, but I think I want to change that this year." she looked over at them, "I mean I could just go back upstairs if you don't want to." her ears drooped a little with her shyness.

Bakugo pushed himself up from his seat and took the videos from her and started setting everything up without a word. It was almost like he was on autopilot as he did everything, leaving Nico standing there a little shocked. "I think that's his way of saying stay." Izuku said as he nudged her a little toward the couch, "I wouldn't mind either, this must mean a lot for you to want to share with us."

The three of them spent the rest of the day watching the home movies of Nico and her parents, she had put herself between them making so the had a shield on either side to keep the world away. At some point she had slipped out of her jacket and used it as a blanket before nodding off on Bakugo's shoulder.

"Oi Deku, give me a hand." he quietly hissed, "I can't move." Izuku looked over to see Nico cuddling into him.

With a nod, Izuku gently lifted her allowing Bakugo to slip out from under her. "Should we try to move her?" he carefully put her back down, trying not to wake the sleeping cat.

"Naw, leave her. She'll be up in a little bit." Bakugo waved him out before fixing the jacket, "If not, I'll send someone to come get her when food's ready."

Nico stirred at little, "Thank you," she muttered quietly, "Katsuki." he hadn't been expecting to hear her to thank him, but it made him feel good knowing that she liked having him with her.

Waking up slowly from her nap, Nico noticed that she was alone on the couch. _I guess they had other things to do._ She stretched out a little before checking the time, _Wow, I slept most of the afternoon, no wonder they left._

"Oh good you're up." Nico looked over to see Ochaco coming over to her, "I wanted to see if you could keep Bakugo busy tomorrow while we set up."

Her head wasn't fully awake yet, "What's tomorrow?" she asked smoothing out parts of her hair that felt like sticking up. "I don't have a problem doing that, we have team training in the morning so it shouldn't be an issue."

"It's his birthday," Ochaco reminded her, "We talked about it earlier this week."

Nico tried to search her memory, hoping to recall anything but failed to do so. "I'm sorry, I guess I had so much on my mind, but yeah I'll think of something to keep him out of the house after we finish up with training." she promised, trying to think of some excuse to get him away from the house.


	6. It's your birthday, so just enjoy it

6 - It's your birthday, so just enjoy it.

It had taken Nico all night and most of the morning to figure out the best way to convince Bakugo to go out with her until the others were ready. "Hey pantie thief, I need your help with something." she said as they walked back to the dorm, "Everyone else has other stuff to do, so you're coming with me." she didn't give him a chance to say no.

"Tch, what if I have other plans? Did you even think of that?" he didn't have any plans, but he wanted to see if he could make her sweat a little.

"I know for a fact you don't, that's why I'm telling you to go get changed and we're going out." she wasn't going to let him get out of it, she had a backup plan in case he started protesting.

"Fine," he agreed, it was better than sitting around bored. "But it better not be anything super boring because I'll kick you ass if I'm bored out of my head."

"Like you could take me." Nico laughed as she headed up the stairs first, "Just don't take forever. I won't be waiting for you all day."

Bakugo had expected she had needed his help with something important, but when they came up to cyber cafe he was so very confused.

"What the hell are we doing here?" He looked down at the little cat girl as she pulled him inside. "I thought you said you needed help with something."

Lightly turning on her heel, Nico spun around to smile at him, "Yeah I need your help beating these noobs into the floor. I can't enter a pairs tournament on my own and you're the only one at my skill level." She knew the small ego stroke would work. "What better way to spend a Saturday than showing off a little."

He couldn't really argue with that logic, "So what are we waiting for, let's show them how it's done."

"That's what I thought." Nico smiled at herself as they went up to the counter.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." the guy behind the counter laughed when he noticed them, "You joining in the tourney Shadow cat? You do know you'll need a partner this time."

"I got one Cody, thank you very much." Nico huffed, "And I will have you know that we will win this one, I've seen the teams and I can tell you right now that they don't stand a chance."

"A favourite hide out of yours, cat freak?" Bakugo asked, as Nico started filling out the tournament form.

"Yeah, these losers are just sore that I won the last time I entered solo." she slid the paper to him, "Just need to throw down a name for yourself and we're set." she had taken care of the team name already. _Hidden threat, yeah that seems like a fitting name for us._ Bakugo scribbled down a name and slid it back to Nico.

"Hey now, I was having an off day. This time you won't get so lucky." Cody took the form her and pointed them to a couple of terminals, "Just wait for the green light and try not losing too early, I want another shot at you."

"Yeah ok, we'll see about that." Nico waved them off as they went and got themselves setup. "Like I'd let them think they could beat us, just like at school, we'll use the same code to communicate. No point in letting them know what we're doing."

They had been flying through the rounds, never needing more than a few words between them while the other team freaked out. It was down to the last round, Nico and Bakugo up against Cody and his buddy.

"Just give it up Shadow cat, you don't stand a chance against us." she heard him over the head set. "Second place is just as good as first, it just comes with a smaller prize."

"Please, go shit talk to someone else." Nico looked over to Bakugo, "You ready to win?"

"Don't you know it." he held his fist to her, "let's show them not to mess with us." Nico bumped her fist into his and focused on the screen in front of her.

Everything was going smoothly and they were about to beat their opponents when Nico's phone started buzzing away in her pocket. _Shit, that's probably the others. I must be time to head back. _She had let herself become too distracted and was launched off the map. _Crap, but that's fine, we'll still win if Bakugo can get them._

Everyone around them watched with bated breath as he made quick work of the one that had taken her out and was closing in quick on Cody. Time was running out and it was now or never to take the shot, and with some luck Bakugo got him and ended the game with less than a second on the clock.

"Holy sweet shit you did it!" Nico exclaimed grabbing Bakugo's face and gave him a quick kiss without thinking. "Umm, I don't know why I just did that." she had a strip of pink going across her face.

They didn't move for a few moments, only being brought back to reality by her phone going off again, "You going to get that? It must be important if they called again." Bakugo smirked at her as she busied herself with answering the call, still a little flustered.

"Hey hot head, Shadow your girlfriend or something?" Cody grabbed his attention, "She's never actually brought someone to the doubles tourneys."

"We're just friends." he saw Cody lift an eyebrow, questioning if that was actually the truth. "I guess she didn't like anyone enough to bring them here."

Cody wasn't convinced by his explanation, "Yeah, it pretty clear she likes you plenty. But you do got some skills I have to admit, next time we're running a team tournament you need to come by."

Bakugo was about to say something when Nico grabbed his hand, "We got to go, Cody I'll be back to collect that prize later." she pulled him to his feet and practically dragged him behind her.

"Jesus woman, you're going to rip my arm off you keep this up." he managed to pull his arm free, "Where's the fire all of a sudden?"

"We gotta get back, something's come up back home and they need us." was the best excuse she could think of as she waved down a taxi. "Kiri didn't give me any more info than that, but it sounded pretty big."

From what Nico had said Bakugo had expected some kind of attack, but what they walked into wasn't anything he had been prepared for. While Nico had been keeping him busy, everyone else had put together a feast for his birthday, he had honestly thought that none of them remembered. "You knew about this, didn't you." he turned to Nico, who just smiled and went to join the others.

"And what if I did? What are you going to do about it?" she had been amazed that he hadn't figured her out sooner. "Hurry up and get over here, the food's going to get cold."

All the food were from all his favourites from some of the local places, "Just how long you lot have been planning this?"

"All week," Izuku answered, "Nico was only brought into it last night, we needed someone who didn't know the whole plan to keep you away while we set up."

"So when you said everyone else had plans," Bakugo started putting the pieces together, "Clever, I should have known something was up."

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up so we can eat already." Nico said as Bakugo finally joined them at the table.

Nico waited until she was sure that everyone else on their floor was off doing something else, she used her cat form to sneak into Bakugo's room with something small that she had managed to pick up for him while they had been out. She would have given it to him with everyone else, but she was still feeling a little awkward about what happened at the cyber cafe.

_Gods above, why the hell did I have to kiss him like that? It just felt so very right at the moment._ She scolded herself as she padded down the hall. _I don't know if I'm going to be able to face him again without turning bright red. God just kill me know._

It was just her luck that he had left the door open a crack, so she managed to nudge it open just enough to slip in. With a little bit of a run Nico leapt onto the bed so she could leave her package somewhere he could find it.

"Look like there's a cat burglar sneaking around now." the sound of Bakugo's voice made her freeze in place, "Come to snag a pair of my underwear or something?" he couldn't help tease her.

Nico wasn't sure if he could see the blush through her fur, but she wasn't about to shift back to correct him and risk him seeing how red her face was. So she just put the package down and meowed at him.

"I'm going to take it that is for me? Why so shy of a sudden, normally you would have a come back loaded and ready to go." he noticed that she hadn't shot back at him. "This got something to do with kissing me?" Nico didn't want let it show that he was right, she just sat down and started cleaning her face a little.

"Ok, I see how it is." He knew he was right, it just gave just something to use when he wanted to tease her. "So other than dragging me out you, managed to get something for me too, how thoughtful." he went to sit next to her, looking at what she had brought.

Before he opened it she nudged his arm with her face and took off back to her room. _What the hell was that about?_ He heard her door close hard, he looked down at the package and found a note attached.

_I spotted these and knew they would be prefect. It's your birthday, so just enjoy it. I'll go and get the prize from Cody tomorrow, I hope you had fun with me today because I know that I'd like to do it again sometime soon._ Bakugo opened the wrapping and found a small box a spicy chocolates. He remembered them passing the small chocolate shop and Nico said she needed to pop in quickly.

It had been an interesting day for him to say the least, but what had caught him by surprise was Nico telling him that he was going out with her and then when he had won the tournament for them, _Did she really mean she didn't know why, or could there be another reason?_ He wondered, leaning back on the bed, _Would it really be so bad if she was his girlfriend? I mean there are worse people to fall for, but could she even love someone like me?_

While Bakugo contemplated his feeling, Nico was trying to sort out her own. "Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with me? I should have just left it somewhere else for him to find." she panicked scrubbing her hair wildly, trying to get the blush on her face under control.

Nico started pacing her room until she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her cheeks a bright red and her hair disheveled and messy. "Holy crap, if someone sees me like this I'm totally screwed." she fumbled with her brush, trying to my herself a little more presentable.

Once she had managed to get herself calmed down, she noticed there were a couple of messages on her phone. One from each of her teammates, she answered Izuku's first since she wouldn't be able to focus once she answered Bakugo.

_Are you alright, my phone just showed me a huge spike in your heart rate._ Nico laughed a little, _I wanted to ask you for a hand with something, do you think we can go somewhere for lunch tomorrow?_

Nico quickly typed out her answer, _I'm fine, just saw a spider. Creepy thing caught me off guard. Yeah I wouldn't mind helping, meet me at the gate for eleven I have an errand I need to run anyways._

She sent it off and then turned her attention to the other message that demanded her attention. _Yo cat freak, you have a heart attack or something? I'm going with you to get the prize tomorrow, I'll meet you at the cafe for one, so don't be late._

She blinked a few times while she tried to figure out how she would explain why she was beet red the entire time. "Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day, I must have kicked puppies and babies in a past life to deserve this." she flopped back onto the bed, "I'm not getting any sleep tonight."


	7. It wasn't a date, dumbass

7 - It wasn't a date you dumbass.

Sleeping had been an impossible task for Nico, she spent most of the night flipping and flopping, her mind running a million miles an hour trying to figure out how she was going to be able to face Bakugo after the events of the day before.

She managed to get lucky and avoided him while heading out to meet Izuku, "So what's the plan for today?" Nico walked backwards a little, "I'm not sure what I can help you with but I'll try."

"Ah, well I was hoping you could practice something with you." Izuku asked shyly, "I've been wanting to ask Uraraka out on a date but every time I start to ask I get flustered."

"Now that's something I can definitely help with, and you already did a great job last night asking me." Nico smiled, she liked knowing that he trusted her enough to ask for her help. "But I guess it was a very different thing asking a friend to lunch than the girl you like."

Izuku nodded, turning a bright shade of red. "Alright so what you want to do first have an idea of what you want to do, in this case we're going for lunch, now you can go one of two ways. The first is have a place picked out that you know she likes or the other is letting her pick. I would say taking her somewhere she likes would be the better of the options because it shows you've been paying attention." Nico continued her lecture as they walked, "So where would you take me? I am curious to see if you remember what I like."

She watched him flounder for a bit while he did his best to think of what she'd like. "I think got an idea, come on." he grabbed her hand and pulled her along.

Bakugo had left a little earlier than he had planned, he wanted to stop by the chocolate shop to see if he could find a small something to thank Nico for making his birthday interesting. What he hadn't counted on, seeing her sitting on the patio of a little restaurant having lunch with Izuku. It bothered him a little for some reason, seeing them laughing and talking about whatever seemed interesting.

He got closer so he could actually hear what it was they were talking about without them seeing him. "So I've been meaning to say this for a long time, I really like you and I'd like to do this more." Izuku stammered out, but Bakugo didn't stick around to hear her answer, he took off not want to cause a scene for something that he clearly didn't have business over hearing.

"Shakey dismount and you almost nail the landing, but you're still going to need a little work. Maybe try not being so nervous, this is Ochaco you have in mind so she's going to be just as flustered as you are. You're going to need to relax and speak from the heart, you'll be just fine." Nico said as she checked the time, "Damn, I gotta get going, Bakugo is meeting me at the cyber cafe to collect our prize from yesterday. Think you can handle asking Ochaco out now?"

"Yeah, I think I'm ready. Thanks a lot, to be honest I felt a little stupid asking for your help." Izuku waved down the waiter to get the bill. "I'll see you back at the dorm?"

"Yeah, I expect you to tell me how things go." Nico ruffled his hair before taking off, she felt like she was running late for something super important and danced through the crowds to make it on time.

_Why in the hell am I freaking out, it's not like we're going on a date._ She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, _Holy sweet hell, what if it was his way of asking me out, oh by everything that is green on this earth am I stupid._ There wasn't any time for her to go back to the dorm as touch up a little, so she was going to have to make do with what she had on and hope for the best.

She walked the rest of the way, using the time to calm herself and get her head together. "Hey Sc, you just missed your boyfriend." Cody said when she came up to the counter, "Did the lovebirds get into a fight, he was sure pissed about something." he teased her a little.

"One he's not my boyfriend, two I haven't seen him today and three we haven't fought about anything." Nico snipped at him, she went for another point when something on the wall caught her eye, "Really Cody, a kiss cam?" she pointed to the picture of her and Bakugo over his shoulder.

"We needed a picture of the winners for the wall, I thought since it was the only decent one we had gotten yesterday we had to use it." he smirked, noticing that Nico was becoming embarrassed. "Awe look at the blushing kitty, we may have lost, but I think seeing you like this is so much better than any victory."

"I hate, no that's not right." she hissed, "I loathe you Cody and I will remember this insult next time we meet up in a match." she snathched the gift card from his hand as he laughed at her a little.

"Whatever, I got your email so I'll let you know when the next tournament is." he waved her off as she left, "And don't forget to bring your boyfriend with you too." he called after her as she flipped him off.

Nico had tracked Bakugo back to the school, where he was doing some target practice. "Hey I missed you at the cafe." she called over to him, but he just ignored her. "Oi, jackass, don't you ignore me. What the hell happened to you today?" she picked up a chunk of debris and threw it at him.

"Didn't you have something more important to do today?" he snapped, "I'm sure that you had a great time with that damned Deku." he turned to face her, seeing her stunned look.

"You spied on us, I don't know what you saw but maybe you should get all the information before jumping to conclusions." she wanted to get in his face but the cold look in his eyes stung, "Fine you can be an asshole, see if fucking I care." she felt like he had slapped her, he had misunderstood what she and Izuku had been up to but it felt like he didn't really care for the truth. "Knock yourself jackass." she turned to walk back to the dorm without listening to him call after her.

Nico spent the rest of the day in her cat form, lounging on the backs of chairs and couches. Any time Bakugo even looked in her direction she flicked her tail dismissively and moved to another seat, by the time they finished dinner she had curled up in Kirishima's lap just to piss him off.

"Ya know, I don't think he deserves this kind of punishment. Yeah Bakugo can be an ass, but the silent treatment is a little much don't you think." Kirishima said as Nico made herself comfortable. "I'm not going to pretend I know what happened, but maybe talking things out might help."

She just glared at him over her shoulder, she really didn't feel up to talking about anything with anyone. It was just easier for her to be a cat that way she could still spend time with everyone, while avoiding the whole talking business.

"Alright, point made." Kirishima knew when he was beat, but he had to try one last time. "Just give him another chance, I get he screwed up massively because he's dense, but that shouldn't be enough to damn him."

Nico got up rubbed her face on his cheek as a way to say thank you, before jumping on to the back of the couch and sauntered down to where Bakugo was sitting. He when didn't noticed her, she bit his ear before heading upstairs.

She had made it to the fourth floor landing before he caught up with her, "What the hell, you won't even look at me all night and then you come up and try to rip my ear off." Bakugo snapped as she shifted back to normal, sitting on the stairs.

"Well if you weren't such an asshole we wouldn't be having this argument." she leaned back on her elbows, "Now you care to explain why the hell you followed me and Izu."

"I didn't follow anyone, I just happened to be passing by." He said, but she wasn't convinced, "I stuck around long enough to hear him say he likes you…"

Nico put up a hand to stop him, "First, you should have just come over instead of being some kind of creepy stalker and second you are so way off base that you can't even see the field."

"But you were on a date, you can't tell me otherwise." he snapped as she smiled and shook her head.

"It wasn't a date you dumbass. Izu asked for my help so he could get a little advice, you got your panties all bunched over that. I bet if you stuck around for another five seconds you would have heard what I had to say." she couldn't help but laugh at the dumbstruck look on his face. "You're such an idiot, Kiri was right you are so very dense."

"Sh… shut up, how the hell was I supposed to know." Bakugo tried covering up his embarrassment. "So why the hell not just tell me when you found me earlier?"

That killed Nico's laughter, "Because you looked like you weren't going to listen to me no matter what I was going to say." she admitted, "You looked like I had hurt you." she became serious as he took a step closer.

Nico couldn't read the look in his eyes, "For some reason it felt like it, like you had ripped something from me." he leaned over her, making Nico's face turn a bright red with how close he was. "I couldn't stand seeing you spending time with that damn Deku like that and to hear him say that he liked you, I wanted to blow him through a wall."

She could feel her heart pounding against her chest, "Well you should have just asked about, it's not like I was hiding anything." Nico managed to escape into the hall, "It's getting late, see you in the morning." she fled to her room and hid for the rest of the night.

Nico dug around for her phone, hoping that she could talk with the only person she ever trusted when she got flustered. "Hey runt, it's not like you to call at this time of night." Nick said as he picked up, "Everything alright?"

"I don't really know, so remember the friends I brought with me on friday?" she asked before launching into her tale, explaining everything that had happened in the last two days. "So what do you think I should do?"

Nick roared with laughter at his niece's plight, "Wow runt, you sure know how to make one hell of a mess. I gotta come see you soon, just to watch you trip over your own tail." once he caught his breath, Nick became a little more serious. "But it sounds to me like that blondie might just like you."

"I was hoping you'd say it was just in my head and I was imagining things." Nico groaned opening the window to let a little air in. "I don't know what to do, I mean I shouldn't have to worry about grandfather setting up an arranged marriage for me so should I see if he actually does like me that way?"

There was a long pause, "You should do what you feel is right, that's all I can really say Kit." Nico knew he was being serious because he didn't call her runt. "I know that Nami would have wanted you to chase the boy if it made you happy."

"Thanks uncle Nick, I knew calling you was the right idea." she smiled when he mentioned her mother, "So should I be expecting a surprise visit from you in the near future?"

"You better believe it, oh and before I forget clear your weekend. I'm kidnapping you for your birthday hunt." Nick had to pull the phone away from his ear as Nico let out a screech of glee.

He had called it a hunt, but it was really just the two of them going off to a cabin and doing absolutely nothing other than lounge around and eating junk. "You are so awesome, you just happen to make the top of my favourite uncle list." she laughed.

"Last I checked I was your only uncle, I mean that is if you haven't gone and picked up any others while you've been at school." he joked with her. "You should get some sleep runt, you've got school in the morning."

"Thanks again, I feel so much better now I've talked to you." she hung up and flopped back on her bed, excited to see the weekend and doing jack all with her favourite person.


	8. Playing twenty questions

8 - When did we start playing twenty questions?

It was a slow climb back up the leaderboard, back to where they had been before Nico's distracted state. By the end of the week they had settled in fifth place, which made Nico feel extra excited for the weekend, it gave her something to talk about while they had their weekend.

What Nico didn't know was that her uncle had shown up in the middle of the day on friday and arranged to be a special opponent for her team. Nick had wanted to see just how well they worked together and if Bakugo was really worthy of having her all worked up over him.

He stood out in the middle of the field in his beast form, a giant black lion, and roared getting the attention of the whole school. "It seems a challenge has been issued." Aizawa looked over to Nico and the boys, "You three, this one's for you." they went to see just who there were going up against.

"Uncle Nick? I thought you were coming later to get me, what are you doing here now?" Nico was very confused to why her uncle had shown up early as didn't feel like telling her. When he didn't shift back, she knew something was off. "Guys I think we're going to have a rather large problem," she fell back behind them, her normal starting position.

"We're going up against the Demon Lion himself, yeah I'd say we got a problem." Izuku shifted back a little, "What's the plan?"

"I really don't know, he's big enough to take all three of us out in one swing. We're going to have to adapt a hit and run formation, and we're going to need to stay spread out that way he can't get all of us." Nico quickly ran through all of their battle plans. "Right let's start with a flash bang and see how that works for us." the boys nodded and spread out a little. Nico pulled a little flash paper bomb out from a pocket and tossed it to Bakugo who used it to create a distraction for them to scatter so Nick wouldn't be able to swipe at them.

As they studied the lion, most of the other classes came out to see what all the commotion was about. "Izu, let's do a higher elevation into a reverse waterfall." Nico got a nod from Izuku as she started jogging at him, "From there we're going to need some temple bells." it was she signal to Bakugo that she was going to send the next attack his way.

Once she was sure the guys knew the plan she picked up the pace and ran right at Izuku, who launched her into the air and from there she tossed a couple of bells they had worked on to amplify the sound of his explosions.

As Bakugo got him set with the bells, Izuku rushed in on Nick and tried to knee him just under the chin to get him to rear up, but unfortunately Nick was ready for and easily batted Izuku away like he wasn't even there.

The blaring sound from the bells was enough to make Nick stagger a little as Nico dropped down on him with her heel, but it didn't keep the large cat down for long and he turned on her and swiped, his attack didn't hit her as she had shifted to her cat and his huge paw flew right over her head.

Mustering up all her might, Nico let out what she called her house cat roar. She used to signal a strategist change and gave control over to Izuku. Nico just hoped that he heard her, because they were so far apart.

"Kacchan, Nico up and over." Izuku called out, making the two snap into action. They managed to get under Nick and before he could react they dug their heels into his ribs and flipped him head over heels, landing on his back. "Tag, this should be the last attack." he handed the final attack to Bakugo.

"I hope so," Nico rolled onto her feet, panting heavily. That maneuver was not made for her to be part of, but it this worked since they caught Nick by surprise. "I don't know how much more I can take, I'm still pretty beat from our fight this morning."

"Then we'll need the big bang." Bakugo said and the others grinned at him, they had been waiting for the right time to use this one.

"I think that's a smashing idea." Nico got her second wind, passing him a small cloth pyramid, "Just make sure I'm clear, you don't want to know what singed fur smells like." she went back to being a cat and charged straight at her uncle as he got back onto his feet.

She was going to distract Nick by weaving through his legs and under him, keeping him focused on her while the guys got into position, once he was ready Bakugo let out a whistle signaling that he was ready. As Nico got clear, he launched what could only be described as a fireworks display to keep Nick's attention off of Izuku as the small boy caught the lion around the neck and held him until he gave up and shifted back, wearing Izuku like a necklace.

"Alright, you win. I know when I'm beat." Nick raised his arms in surrender as Izuku dropped back to the ground. "All of you did a great job and I think the three of you have earned a three day weekend." Nico gave him a suspicious look.

"I thought that this weekend we just us?" she said picking up her uniform and snapping the dirt from it. "And just how did you manage getting all of us out of class for three whole days?"

"Team training." Nick grinned, they both knew his definition of training was going to get firewood together or refilling the chip bowl. "So go get your bags ready, I'm not going to be waiting around all day."

The ride up to the cabin had been a long one, so Nico used her time to nap. But once they pulled up she jumped out of the car and went straight inside to claim her usual spot. "Hey get your backside back out here and help." Nick shouted after her.

"But you're all so much bigger and stronger than I am, plus you usually let me start being lazy right out of the car." She whined coming back out to help. She looked at the bags he had piled on the porch and picked out a tiny light looking bag. "Look I'm helping." she held it out of Nick to see.

"You big ham, I know for a fact that you're stronger than that." Nick took the light bag from her and gave one that was twice the size. "Just because we're not going to be doing shit all for three days doesn't mean you get to start slacking off now."

She stuck her tongue out at him, before taking the bag inside and going back out to get a couple more. "But you said this was going to be team training." Izuku was confused by what was going on.

Nico and Nick looked at each other and laughed, "And if we actually did what we said we were doing out here, Auntie Nina would never have allowed us to start this tradition." Nico grabbed the last bag from the porch, "This weekend is about doing nothing but sitting around and relaxing, it's how we celebrate my birthday every year."

"Well damn, why couldn't you have come last weekend." Bakugo slung his bag over his shoulder, "I wouldn't mind taking a few days to do nothing."

"I couldn't justify with my sister why we'd be doing two weekends back to back. But we have enough junk to kill an elephant, so I hope you boys can handle it." Nick grabbed Nico and put her up on his shoulder. "Now we need to swear you two secrecy, if Nina ever finds out what we've been doing all this time she'll kill me."

"You wouldn't have brought them if you didn't think they would keep quiet." Nico knew that Nick liked her friends, which was good as they were the only ones she really trusted. "Can we just get to being lazy already? I've been waiting all week for this."

The cabin was the size of a large house, with enough rooms for a couple of families to use without having to share. "This place is huge, just how big is your family?" Izuku marveled the size as Nico sprawled out on a loveseat.

"I don't really know, hey uncle Nick just how many branches of the family are there?" she leaned her head back to look at him.

"Last time I counted five or six, but that could have changed in the last ten years, so I can't really remember." Nick tossed a huge bag of marshmallows at her, making her squeal with glee. "But yeah this place was built at a time when the family was small, so it was made to accommodate everyone all at once. Now we take turns using it for the most part but no one dares take it this time of year, not since we started our 'hunting' weekends."

"How'd that start? It seems a little random to just start one year." Bakugo asked, which he regretted when Nico's tail drooped a little.

"It was just after we lost Nami and Parker, little miss here was having a super rough time with everything so I took it upon myself to get her away from home for a few days. At that time I really wasn't sure how to properly look after a kid, so we ended up having a weekend junk food and cartoons but by the time we went home Nico was feeling so much better that she was actually smiling a little again," Nick explained as he dumped an arm load of various bags and boxes. "From then on it's just something we've always done, I'm sure Nina knows what we're not doing what we say we are but she doesn't say anything because it helped get the runt smiling again."

"What's with the names, do all of you have a name that starts with 'n'?" Izuku had noticed that all of them had similar starting names, "And why do you keep calling Nico runt?"

"When did we start playing twenty questions?" Nick claimed an overly plush chair by the fireplace. "It's not all of us that have 'n' names, just the head of the family and the two advisers. Nami, me and Nina were triplets so it was obvious that we'd be those three. The next heir has already been named our cousin Nagisa and Nico here was named his third. As for calling her runt, you want to get the appointment picture?"

"No, but you're going to make me get it anyways." she sighed putting her treat down and went to grab a picture off the wall. "You'll be able to tell which one's me." she handed the picture to Izuku who passed it to Bakugo.

"You're tiny compared to those two, what the hell are they eating?" Bakugo laughed as she snatched the picture back.

"Laugh it up funny boy, I can kick your ass easily enough." she carefully hung it back on the wall, "I'd been bigger if I hadn't been so sick when I was younger, Nagisa is only a month older so I have some competition for the top spot." Nico slid back into her seat as Nick groaned.

"Don't tell me you're still on that, you know that the old man won't let you be the heir. So why do you keep putting yourself through that?" It wasn't the first time he had to talk Nico down from challenging Nagisa and it wasn't going to be the last.

"Mama was next in line, I should have gotten that title after her." Nico was a little insulted that her uncle wasn't on her side. "Grandfather only made him heir because he is twice my size."

"And could eat you alive if he really wanted to, we've been over this Nagisa is way out of you reach on your own. Look at today, it took the three of you to put me in a position where you could have actually beat me. On your own you're just not strong enough." Nick looked at the guys, "Maybe one of you can finally talk sense into her, I've tried for years to get her to see how out matched she is."

Izuku was the first to speak up, "I think you should listen to Nick, there's no point in putting yourself at risk just for a position." Nick gave her I told you so look as she threw a marshmallow at Izuku.

"Fuck that, go big or go home. I say she can totally take down the brute." Bakugo added his opinion to the discussion, earning him a groan from Nick.

"I asked you to talk her down, now send her into the lion's den." Nick could see he wasn't going to win this argument, especially if the young blonde was encouraging her.

Nico let out a huge yawn, the day finally catching up with her. "It's been a hell of a day, I think I'm going to call a night." she waved to them before vanishing upstairs.

Waiting until he was sure that Nico wouldn't hear them, Nick turned to the boys. "I'm glad at least one of you has a brain." he fixed Bakugo with a glare, "Nico won't admit it to herself, but she knows she doesn't stand a chance in hell against Nagisa. I made a promise to Nami that I wouldn't let anything happen to Nico, and I plan on making sure I keep that promise."

"So why not just tell her this?" Izuku offered, "I get the feeling that if she knew the truth then she might see things your way."

"What's so scary about the Nagisa guy? He just looks like a big dumb idiot." Bakugo said, knowing he wasn't winning any points with Nick, but there was something else he wasn't saying. "It's not Nico you're afraid of getting hurt, or is it that there's something else attached to being head of the family."

"I really shouldn't be saying this to you two, but Nami was disowned when she married Parker." Nick went over to the mantle and found an old picture of him and his sisters, "Our father was against it because there was someone already arranged for her, but she went and ran off with Parker. Nami never wanted Nico to be part of this life but after she died, Nina and I took her in since Parker didn't have any living family and no one from the main house would take her." he explained. "The old man made it clear that she was never going to get any position higher than third, as a way to punish her for what Nami did."

The pair didn't know what to say, they couldn't help but feel a little sorry for their friend. "Nico doesn't know any of this, does she?" Izuku found the words first, "Why not just tell her so she won't have her hopes crushed if she actually wins."

Nick put the picture back, "It would hurt her to know that her mother isn't the idle that Nico has made her out to be. I know that someday I am going to sit her down and tell her everything, but for now I wanted her to think that Nami was amazing at everything." he admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I want you two to promise that you won't say anything, this is my burden and I should be the one she should hate."

"I don't think she could, hate you that is." Bakugo tried to reassure the older man, "Almost every story she's told us has been focused around you. Nico will understand that you just wanted to keep her happy."

"Maybe you do have have some brains after all." Nick smiled a little, "You guys should call it a night, I'm sure Nico will want to show off the lake tomorrow." he shooed them upstairs, that way he could have a little longer with his own thoughts.

The smell of a wood fire from the stove pulled Nico awake, it could only mean one thing. "Uncle Nick's making breakfast." she smiled, rolling out of bed. "I wonder what he's making this time." she knew that her uncle would make a huge spread for everyone, so she didn't have to hurry.

As Nico headed down the stairs she noticed Bakugo standing by the window with his back to her, it gave her a wicked idea. _The silent huntress stalks up on her prey, who is completely unaware of the danger that is creeping up._ She crept up on him, tapping his left shoulder before sliding right, then in front of him close to his face.

He jumped back at the sudden appearance of the cat girl, "What the hell, where did you come from?" Bakugo sputtered as Nico laughed at his reaction.

"That's what happens when you space out in a house with people who can move silently." she grinned, "come on it smells like uncle Nick has breakfast ready."

"It's lunch, you slept clean through the morning." Nick said as they went into the kitchen, "I had a feeling you would so us manly men took a trip into town and got the fixings for a special dinner."

"Why did you let me sleep, I would have come with you guys." she was a little disappointed that she had missed out on a trip into town, "Wait you said manly men, you hiding them in the car?" she teased as she crossed her ankles on the seat in front of her.

"Runt you're asking for it," Nick warned her as she stuck out her tongue. "why don't you and blondie here go for a walk down to the lake once we're finished lunch, I need the little one for something so you two will have time to burn."

Nico had a feeling it was Nick's way for her to test the waters, but Nico felt that was a risky move on his part, if things got weird between them there was no were for her to hide. "You sure about that? We could stick around and help." she offered.

"We go it, and it would ruin the surprise part of it if you helped." Nick he put down plates on the table, "Oh I talked to Nina this morning, seems that the old man is working on a deal with the Todoroki family. There's going to be a formal meeting in a couple weeks, so try keeping yourself in one piece until then."

The name caught Nico's interest, "Todoroki," she repeated, "It sounds really familiar, but I can't think of why." it was really bothering her that she couldn't remember why she knew the name.

"That's Icy hot, he's in our class." Bakugo reminded her, "You know top of the leaderboard almost every morning."

"Oh Shoto," the realization hit her like a lead brick, "Wait, we're going to be having ties with Endeavor? Is grandfather out of his mind, we've never held ties with pros because we didn't want to get caught up in the politics of it all." Nico almost fell out of her chair.

Nick shrugged, "Don't blow a gasket, I can't tell you what he's thinking but I don't think we're going to be tying the hero aspects together just the business." he could tell Nico was starting to panic, "Hey runt, chill out, it's just a meeting nothing to set in stone. Just relax and focus on today, that's something for another day."

"Alright, but I think you're a little too calm about this." She turned her attention to Bakugo, "I have a better idea than the lake, if you think you're up for it."

"Oh I didn't even think about that." Nick was sure he knew what she was planning, "I'll throw something together for you to take along."

"This sounds interesting, you're on." Bakugo was curious now, just what could they be talking about. "Just what is it you're planning?"

"You'll see, I'm going to get changed and I'll be right back." Nico hopped up and jogged off.

Nick watched her go, "She must really trust you, she's got a special place that Nami would bring her all the time when they came here, she's going to take you there." Nick grabbed a few containers from the counter, "It's going to take you guys most of the afternoon to get there and back so it'll give me and Izuku time to prep the stone oven."

Bakugo could tell the older man had something else in mind when he had told Bakugo to keep Nico distracted while they worked on dinner. "What you playing at here, why not send Deku with her instead?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." was all Nick answered with as he loaded food into the containers.


	9. It's only six words

9 - It's only six words.

Nico lead the way up a winding path that was steeper in places, "You're going to love the view from the lookout." she called back to him, "it's not too far off now." she pointed to the top of the hill before stopping to let Bakugo catch up.

He had been having a hard time keeping up with the terrain, the path hadn't been built for someone without a beast form in mind. "If you had told me that we'd be mountain climbing I would have settled for the lake." he panted, watching her crouch down and pick up a rock, "You don't plan on using that on me, do you?"

Nico looked over at him confused for a minute, "Huh? Oh no, this isn't for you. It's kind of a strange habit I started with my mama." she tucked the rock into a pocket, "You'll see once we get to the top, now come on we don't have far to go." she took his hand so he wouldn't lag behind anymore.

She hadn't lied about the view, they could see for miles and it looked just like an ocean of trees. "Whoa." was all Bakugo could say as he caught his breath. On the lookout itself there was a couple stacks of rocks and now it made a little sense why she picked one up.

Carefully placing the rock on top of the smaller stack, "I know this seems weird, but mama said it was a way to leave our mark, that future generations can build on our foundation." she put a hand on the pile next hers, "I know it sounds pretty crazy, but now that they're not with me, I have a place where I still feel them, like they're still here with me." Nico scrubbed at one of her eyes, "Listen to me, I must sound insane."

"I don't think so," Bakugo offered as she turned to face him. "This was a special place for you." he wasn't sure what else to say without telling her what Nick had said the night before.

"You don't have to go out of your way to make me feel better, the last year has been strange for me and with everything that's happened over the last couple of weeks, it all has just compiled into a huge weird mess." Nico started watching him, hoping to see if there were any telltale signs of his feelings.

"Yeah, you're family is kind of a big deal so it must not be easy to talk to them." he started studying her back, both not sure of how to react to the other. "But you got Nick in your corner, no matter what happens."

"He told you about mama being shunned." Nico said, shocking him a little. "Auntie Nina told me long ago when I asked her why grandfather would ignore me when we gathered for family meetings. Uncle Nick doesn't know that she told me, because he thinks it would hurt my feelings."

"So why not tell him you know? Then the pair of you won't have to step around the issue." It seemed strange to him that they would avoid something like this.

Nico shook her head, "Because I know how it makes him acts, it hurts him to talk about that time and then he tried extra hard to make it seem like it's not a big deal. Why do you think he let me sleep in and take you guys to get stuff for the stone pizza oven?" she had detailed their morning perfectly.

"You guys don't make any sense." he gave up trying to figure them out, "But this view is killer, how is it there isn't a stream of people up here." he change the topic, going over to the rail near the edge.

"We're on land that is owned by the family. Just about everything you can see from here is on the border. There are a couple other little cabins dotting the area, that way if everyone from the main family shows up we're not all cramped into the big house." Nico joined him, taking in the view, "No matter how many times I came here I'll never get enough of this. There's a funny story behind how I got my name."

Before Bakugo could ask, she launched into the story. "So when mama came up here just before I was born, she had brought uncle Nick with her so he could run her back down to the house if anything happened. They got into a shouting match and when she yelled his name the echo made it sound like she had said Nicole." she pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face before continuing, "That had ended the argument as they started laughing and mama said that if she had a girl that she would call me Nicole and then uncle Nick thought he was clever and said that I'd be an echo of him if she did that. So it's because of him I like being called Nico."

The smile that she had on her face melted Bakugo, this was a completely different side of herself that she didn't show at the dorm, she was more open and talked more freely, like they were the only two around. "That has to be the strangest think I have ever heard, but I think it suits you." he liked that his words made her blush a little, it made his heart beat a little fast.

"My aunt would like it if I were a little more like her, but I like being close to him. I know I can always call uncle Nick if things rough." she had to turn away from him as the look on his face was making her blush deeper than she would have liked.

_It's now or never Katsuki, just ask her out._ Bakugo coached himself, _It's only six words, not the end of the world._ He gathered up the courage, and took a calming breath. "Want to go out next saturday?" he stumbled through quickly, getting Nico to look back over at him. "I mean if you don't have anything else to do, that is."

While it felt like she was going to pass out from how fast her heart was racing, Nico smile widened. "I love to, but you better find something that can top winning a gaming tournament." she laughed as his face turned the same shade of red as her own. "Why don't we have a snack before heading back. It'll give your face time to go back to normal." she giggled dropping the pack Nick had made up for them.

"I'm not the only one, you look like a tomato." Bakugo wasn't going to let her off the hook for teasing him. "Wouldn't want Nick to think we've been up to no good up here." he smirked as her cheeks went a deeper red.

Author's Ramblings

I want to thank everyone for all the support, this last week has been rocky for me and seeing that everyone enjoys this story had been good for keep morale up.

I know this chapter is on the tiny side, but nothing else I had down with it didn't sound just right and sounded a little too forced, want to keep the quality up a high level and I would never put out anything I'm less than pleased with.

One last thing before I wrap up my rambling, if there's anything I've missed please tell me. I don't mind having things pointed out in a polite manner, it's a great help because I tend to get focused on moving forward and forget smallish details. So if there's something I've skipped over or it looks like I've forgotten about I would hope you guys won't hesitate to point it out for me.

Love ya'll, Zenn


	10. You didn't hear that from me

10 - You didn't hear that from me.

Nick couldn't help but notice the change in Nico when they got back from the lookout, he raised an eyebrow at her with a silent question. She put a finger to her lips then linked her pinky fingers together, giving him a silent promise she'd tell him later.

After dinner Nick pulled out a deck of cards, "I bet Nico hasn't shown you guys what her optimize quirk can do, has she?" he tossed the cards to her.

"You're going to make me show off aren't you," Nico pulled a few cards out of the pack, "My other quirk works better when I'm building things or working on computers, but you guys know I can weaponize mundane things too." Izuku and Bakugo watched as she worked the cards into the rough shape of a throwing star.

"With all the gear you've made up for the team challenge I just thought you'd been working with the support class." Izuku thought about all the tricks she had come up with. "Do the teachers know you've been doing this?"

"Some of them, but most are all me. When Mei found out that we could have a tech person help out with gear, she just about lost her mind and declared that she was working with us alone." Nico gave the star one last look over before closing her eyes to focus. When her eyes snapped open, they were a silver colour. "Now I can make the quality of the cards into something much stronger." she blew onto the star then threw it across the room to make it stick in the door.

"So that's what you did in our first fight." Bakugo said as Izuku went to pull the projectile from the door, "So how's it work?"

"Not really sure, we didn't know that I had some of papa's quirk until after he passed. And the worst thing is I can't seem to find anyone with a similar one so it's all trial by error." she laid out on love seat. "But I still prefer my beast form, and once I finally grow I'll be every bit as dangerous as the rest of them."

"Well I do have an obstacle course set up down at the old training grounds if you two want to see how you fare against one of our fastest young ones?" Nick watched the boys as they looked at each other, "Yeah I know said we don't do anything, but I thought this year a race would be a little fun on the last day."

"I think they're scared of being beaten by an itty bitty kitty," Nico said, flicking her tail with the last words. "I'd understand if you guys don't want to do it, but we'd never who is the fastest." she gave them a cheshire cat grin, knowing she had pushed at least Bakugo's buttons.

"Tch, like I'd pass up on a chance to pay you back for kicking my ass." all the attention shifted to Izuku.

"No way am I going to let you guys have all the fun, count me in too." he added.

Nick let out a roar of laughter, "That's the spirit boys, you're not going to win, but I expect you to give it your all."

They stayed up telling Nick about all the fights they had with their teachers over the last few weeks, he offered his advice on the ones they had a harder time with. It wasn't until the clock on the mantle chimed one that they realized it was so late. Izuku and Bakugo said their goodnights and headed upstairs.

Waiting until she couldn't hear them anymore, Nico fixed her uncle with a sharp glare as she when over to him. "You knew or you gave him the idea. How dare you interject your nose into my business." she beat her fists against Nick's massive arm. "You couldn't just let things take a normal course, could you."

"Easy tiger, put your claws back before you hurt someone." He put a hand on the top of her head, "I didn't say a damn thing to blondie, so he must have been planning on asking you out on his own and you gave him an opening." Nick thought it was adorable the way she was acting. "So you got a boyfriend now, just don't let the old man know, there'll be hell to pay if he finds out."

"Yeah I know. I heard him every time he says that I will not be responsible for finding my own husband. But at the same time he doesn't seem to care what the hell I do as long as I don't make a fool of myself." Nico huffed, going back to her seat. "I wouldn't call one date having a boyfriend, but I guess this might count as a second date, god I don't know anymore." she flopped on her back and crossed her arms over her eyes.

"I'd call it puppy love, but I think he might actually really like you." Nick patted her foot on his way to the stairs, "Don't stay up too much later, you got to show those boys who's the fastest cat around."

"Night, and you promise not to meddle in things?" she asked but never got an answer. _Of course he's not going to stay out of this, maybe I should talk to auntie and get her to make him back off._ Nico moved her arms and stared at the ceiling above her. _If it wasn't so late I'd call Ochaco and see what her opinion is, I guess I could remember to do it in the morning._

"Alright you three, rules are as follows." Nick stood in front of them, the massive training course set up behind him. "Limited use of quirks, if you can get over the obstacle without do so. Next no attacking each other, I'm not equipped to be putting anyone back together. And lastly if I catch anyone trying to take short cuts, you won't like me."

"Yeah, yeah. Can we just get started?" Nico bounced on the balls of her feet. "Please tell me you have something awesome for the winner."

"Not this time shorty, but maybe I'll think of something before you guys finish." he smiled, "I kind of did put this together last minute."

Nico looked at the course end to end, "Right, last minute and my tail is extra fluffy." she swished it behind her. "Can we get started?"

"Fine, first one to finish and come back here the fastest wins." Nick held up a stopwatch. "Ready, set… go." he watched them shoot off for the first wall.

Nico took an early lead, shifting into her cat and using her animal speed to get to the wall. Shifting back she grabbed the rope and started pulling herself up. She was half way up when Bakugo and Izuku made it, "Slow pokes." she called down before getting over the wall.

It didn't take them long to catch up, it was lake Nick had built each section to test each of their strengths and in the end it was such a close tie that they agreed that it was a draw.

"Seems I should have made it harder, you three did an amazing job." He laughed as they glared at them panting.

"I think you were trying to prove something." Nico managed to get out, "Are you still sore that we almost beat you on friday?"

Nick patted her head, "Sweety, if I was mad about that, you wouldn't be standing. Why don't you guys take your time getting back, and I'll go ahead to make up lunch." Nick said as he walked back to the cabin.

"You think he was punishing us?" Izuku asked, pulling himself off of the ground. "Nick wouldn't do that, would he?"

"That or he was showing us how to use our quirks together better." she looked over at the course, "I bet if we would have gone faster if we had worked together, uncle Nick my have goated us calling it a race but I think he was trying to teach us something."

"Whatever, it was still worth it to see you two eat my dust." Bakugo laughed as Nico flipped him off, "Come on, don't be like that, I know you enjoyed the view."

Izuku snorted a laugh into his hand, "That's not the point, Kacchan." Nico glared at him, "But it was fun."

"Whatever, I need a shower." Nico started walking off on her own, "You two are a huge pain in my ass." she called back as they caught up with her.

Once she was all cleaned up, Nico found a sunny patch in the living room and made herself comfortable and it didn't take long for her to pass out. Bakugo happened to walk past and heard her soft purring.

_God dammit she's too cute sometimes._ He couldn't help blushing as she stirred a little. "Too hot… abs." she mumbled before settling again.

"You're being creepy, blondie." Nick said making the younger man jump. "If you're going to kiss her, at least wait until she's awake." he laughed when Bakugo turned on him.

"I wasn't going to do anything like that," Bakugo went and sat across from Nico. "I was just wondering if she always talks in her sleep."

Nick nodded, "Yeah, so what was the topic this time? Last pass I made she was talking about somebody being well toned."

"No idea." he looked out the window going bright red. "I was just asking, there's been a couple times she's done it."

"I take it as a sign of her being completely relaxed, it means she trusts you." Nick could see right through Bakugo. "One might even say she might have deeper feelings than that." he took the chance to meddle while Nico was asleep, "But you didn't hear that from me."

"You're nosing around because you think I'm not awake you yell at you." Nico grumbled sitting up, "I think I'm going to make myself a lion skin rug if you keep this up." she warned him as Nick barked out a laugh.

"You can try runt, but you love me too much." he ruffled her already sticking up hair. "You should make sure you're ready to head out tomorrow instead of sleeping."

"But sleeping so much more fun." she whined, "And I already put my bag together, so there. As much as I don't want to leave, I kind of can't wait to get back to school."


	11. I like the way you think

11 - I like the way you think.

"You know what, I just realized something." Kirishima grabbed Nico and Bakugo's attention one night in the common area. They had been going over some reading for the class the next day where Kirishima joined them. "Why is it sometimes when you shift your clothes don't change with you? I mean anytime you do it while fighting you have to pick up your uniform once your done but when your here you shift in and out without a problem."

"Yeah why is that?" Bakugo joined in the inquisition, he had wanted to ask but was waiting until it was just the two of them before asking.

Nico rolled her eyes at them, "It would be guys to ask first." she muttered grabbing Bakugo's shirt off of him. "I'm borrowing this."

"Way to ask first." he didn't mind giving it up because he knew it would stall her out for a moment. "But what's having my shirt going to do?"

"You'll see. Help my make a little space." she shook her head and pointed to the chair as she slipped on Bakugo's shirt. "Now I shouldn't really be explaining this to anyone, but what the hell it's not like my family will ever find out. So there's a big difference in the shifts. One that I have to focus on and the other is pure instinct, come at me." Nico left herself open for Kirishima to charge at her.

"You sure about this, I don't want to hurt you." he looked over at Bakugo, who just watched. "Alright, but don't go saying I didn't give you a chance to change your mind." he jogged at her, but just as he was going to make contact she dropped down to her cat, letting Kirishima get caught up in the shirt. Nico took a few steps before shifting back

"That was a focused shift because the spare shirt didn't come with me, if you had been a real threat none of the clothes would have changed." she explained, brushing a bit of fluff from her pant leg. "Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

Nico didn't get a chance to turn around before Kirishima grabbed her around the middle, instead of shifting, she planted her feet and flipped him over her shoulder. "Damn your not only good looking but strong too, I think I'm in love." he coughed out as Nico looked down at him while Bakugo howled with laughter.

"You wouldn't be able to handle me." she shook her head then went to retrieve her book, "Not even on your best day could you even get close to trying." Nico caught Bakugo grinning at her, clearly finding her treatment of Kirishima hilarious.

They had been more time together over the last few days since coming back from the cabin, it wasn't often one was too far from the other. "Way to kick his ass, didn't see that coming."

"Neither did he," she returned his grin, "We still on for this weekend?" she had been looking forward to the weekend and now that it was a less than twenty four hours away, she was extra curious of what he had planned.

"You know it," Bakugo held his hand out, "Feel like giving me my shirt back?" he watched as Nico debated something before giving back the shirt.

"So any hints on what I should expect?" she'd been trying to get him to give up anything, but Bakugo had kept tight lipped.

"No going to happen, you're just going to have to wait." he loved the little pout she gave him, "Wouldn't want something to happen because of a curious kitty."

"Fine, I can't wait to see what you got planned." she waved to them as she walked away. "See you guys in the morning."

Bakugo went and help Kirishima up, "Dude don't tell me you beat me to the punch." he gave Bakugo a sly grin, "You could have given me a heads up before I made a fool of myself."

"You might just get your chance to have Nico turn you down again," Bakugo rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't have a fucking clue what we're going to do. I am so screwed."

Kirishima clapped his friend on the back, "With all the time you spend with her, there has to be something you can think of. If anyone can come up with something on the fly I'll be you."

"You trying to mess with me?" he wasn't sure of Kirishima's advice, "I'll kill you if you're screwing with me."

"Hey now, no need to be like that. While it sucks you asked her first, I'm not going to piss off my best bud." Kirishima laughed as they put the furniture back to the way it was.

The final bell rang and the students of 2-A started to file out, "Gatta, wait a minute." Aizawa called to Nico before she left. "Seems you family wants me to remind you that you have responsibilities." held out a stack of papers, "I would also like you to tell them I am not a messenger, they can have this delivered to the dorm."

"I'm sorry they used you like this." she took the papers, "I'll talk to my uncle about doing things like this. Was there anything else?"

"No, just make sure this doesn't happen again." he waved her off, going back to his other work.

"Everything alright?" Izuku asked as Nico joined him and Bakugo in the hall. "You like a little shaken.

She shook her head, tucking the papers out of sight. "Just family stuff. I can put it off for later, I really don't want them ruining this good mood I'm in." Nico looped her arms through each of theirs, "I think us making to second place calls for some kind of celebration. I say we go home, change and go out and have a little fun."

"I think that's a plan, Kacchan?" Izuku asked as they looked over at Bakugo.

Bakugo debated if it was worth it to go with them, then it gave him the idea that he could get some ideas on where he could go with Nico the next day. "Alright, could be a good way to end the week." he tried not smiling when Nico let out a little squeal of joy. _God she can really be cute when she wants to be._ He watched as she skipped ahead a few steps, then walked backwards.

"I think we should go to that dessert place that's around the corner. I heard they have a milk chocolate cheesecake, and I've been wanting to go try it." Nico said as she bumped into someone, "I'm so sorry, I didn't…" her words died as she turned around to see a guy a good foot taller than her with ice blue hair.

"You should know better than to walk like that, Nicole." he said as she shuffled back a couple steps back. "I came by to drop off the latest arrangement with the Todoroki family for you and I thought it would be nice to see you for a little bit." something in his gold eyes told Bakugo and Izuku that something was off. "It looks like you've had a good day, but I do hope you don't plan on skipping out of important work just because you're away from home."

Nico shook her head, "Of course not. We were just going to go get something to eat before I went over the papers." It was then she regretted mentioning her plans with her team, because the tall boy's eyes flicked past her.

"Not going to introduce me to your friends, that's not very nice Nicole." he pretended to be hurt, "I'm starting to think being away from home is affecting your manners."

Nico did a half turn, "Nagisa, these are my friends Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo."

"Ah, these are the ones Nicolas was telling grandfather about, nice to meet you guys in person." Nagisa plastered a smile on, showing off his fang like teeth. "You two make sure you take good care of my little Nicole while she's here. I can't have my third coming home broken." he gave Nico one last look before walking back towards the main gate.

"He's an ass." Bakugo noted as Nico shoved her bag into Izuku's hands.

"I'll see you guys back at the dorm." was all she said before becoming a cat and running back into the school.

They watched her go for a little while, "Any idea what that was about?" Izuku asked as Bakugo shrugged, "We might just have to wait until she's up to talking, if at all."

"I get the feeling we might be waiting awhile for that." Bakugo took Nico's bag from Izuku and started walking back to the dorm. "But you got a point, something's not right and that Nagisa guy's behind it."

It was close to midnight when Nico finally went back to the dorm, she hadn't been brave enough to face her friends after what had happened with Nagisa. _I'm such a coward, I shouldn't have run away like that. But I just couldn't handle it letting them see me like that._ She scolded herself closing the door as quietly as possible.

"Hey." Bakugo said as Nico yelped as she turned around. "It's late, everything alright?" He could tell that something was bugging her.

Nico did her best to put on a happy face for him, "Just peachy. Nagisa just caught me off guard is all." there must have been cracks in her mask because he pinned her to the door, hands on either side of her head.

"Don't lie, not to me." he growled, "I know something isn't right. You were all smiles and sunshine until you saw that asshole."

Nico let the fake smile drop, her ears and tail went along with it. "He scares me, like deep down terror. I wasn't prepared to see him so I panicked and ran when he left." she admitted, looking down a little. "I can't stand the fact that you guys saw me like this, running away with my tail firmly between my legs."

"It's alright to be scared," he tried to comfort her, "And you don't have to worry about looking scared in front of me, I'll protect you when you can't do it for yourself."

Nico looked up at him, tears building in the corners of her golden eyes. "You don't need to do that, I'm able to look out of myself. I just have to get over my fears." she wiped the corners of her eyes, "Did you wait up for me?"

"Not by myself, Deku was worried when you didn't come back for dinner. Eventually Kiri got worried about you too and their now passed out on the couch." Bakugo didn't move, he wanted to make sure that she really was alright. "You do know you're safe here, none of us would let anything happen."

Nico managed to smile a little, "This coming from the guy that got kidnapped by the League of Villains, that makes me feel so much better." she stood on her toes and gave him a light kiss on the forehead. "Thank you for looking out for me."

"Yeah well, you're one of us now, get used to it." Bakugo finally straighten up, letting her go. "Maybe you should have something to eat before getting some sleep, I got something awesome planned for tomorrow." he could see the curiosity come back to her eyes, which made him relax a little more.

"I'm looking forward to it." Nico said as she went to the kitchen, "Should we wake them?" she pointed to Izuku and Kirishima who were leaning against each other.

"Naw, leave them. It'll teach them to pass out like idiots." Bakugo leaned against the counter as she rummaged through the fridge. "I've been tempted to shift them so they're cuddling."

"And you haven't why?" Nico giggled, "I'd love to see them wake up and being completely confused." she gave up on finding something to eat and just went to get a cup of instant raman. "I could help you while I wait for this."

"I like the way you think." he gave her a wicked grin, "This is going to be good."

By the time everyone came down the next morning, Bakugo and Nico had somehow shifted Izuku and Kirishima without waking them. They had laid Kirishima on his back and put Izuku on top of him with his arm around the smaller boy.

Nico waved Ochaco over, "I think Izuku's comfy." she tried her best not to laugh, "I don't want to wake them, they look so cute."

Ochaco could see that Nico was up to something, but she let the cat girl have her fun. "How do we get them up?"

Just as they went to give Izuku a little shake, he started to wake on his own. "Morning guys." he started to sit up and rubbing his eyes. "What time is it?"

Nico looked at her watch, "A little past noon, no one had the heart to wake you guys." she smiled as Izuku realized that he was laying on someone.

The girls watched as he froze and looked up to see he was laying with Kirishima. "Th… this isn't what it looks like, I swear." Izuku stammered out as he shot away from the couch.

Izuku's sudden movements managed to pull Kirishima from his sleep, "What's going on?" he mumbled as looked from Nico who was dying of laughter to a bright red Izuku. "Did I miss something good?"

"Looks like it." Bakugo answered, grabbing Nico's attention. "You ready to head out?"

Nico nodded as she caught her breath, "I just need to grab my jacket, I'll be right back." she jogged off upstairs.

"She seems to be alright, any idea what happened yesterday?" Izuku asked Bakugo once Nico was out of sight.

The blonde boy shrugged, "Family shit if I had to guess, but I get the feeling that if she wanted to talk about it she wouldn't have taken off yesterday." he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Don't push the matter." he warned them, he didn't want to see Nico upset by a careless question.

"Are you making sure Izu doesn't break your best friend's heart, how cute of you." Nico grinned as she rejoined them, "But I don't think he could ever do that, he's too nice." she gave the very confused Kirishima a mischievous smile before linking arms with Bakugo. "They do make a sweet couple." she said causing Izuku to start protesting as they left.


	12. Young love

12 - Young love.

Bakugo guided Nico to the dessert place she had been talking about before running off the day before. "I figured since we couldn't make it yesterday, you'd still like to come." he watched the excitement play over her face.

"You certainly do know me well." Nico smiled, "Thank you." she bounced up on her toes and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah well, I just figured it would make up for the jerk ruining your day yesterday." he blushed a little. "But I don't want you thinking about that, not today." he didn't want her to think of anything that would bring down her mood.

"I can do that, why don't you tell me about your family. I mean it's only fair since you know so much about mine already." Nico said as they grabbed a table, "Your parents must be interesting."

Bakugo scoffed, "I think you'd get along well with the old hag." he smiled when she raised an eyebrow. "Maybe next time I go home for a visit, you could tag along if you wanted."

"I'd love that, but you sure bringing a girl home to meet your mother is a good idea?" her tail rested on her shoulder, the tip flicking at him. "Someone would get the idea that you'd be getting serious just after a second date."

"Second? By my count your one short." he corrected her, "My birthday, the lookout and then there's today." Bakugo counted out as Nico shook her head.

"No, this is the second. The lookout doesn't count, my uncle set that up." she waved him off. "Neither of us came up with the idea, so it shouldn't count."

"I say it shouldn't matter who sets it up, it was just the two of us." Bakugo argued back.

"Really, then if you're counting it that way, we're sitting a four. The training we did when Izu went home for the weekend." she rested her chin on her interlocked fingers, "So do you really want to keep arguing with me?"

He glared at her a little, "No, it's going to take more time than we have. Nobody has that much time." he liked having someone to argue with. "So you really want to meet my folks?"

"Why wouldn't I," she quickly gave their server her order, "I like spending time with you and I really would like to meet them." she blushed, feeling a little awkward.

"Well then I guess I should see about going home sometime soon." he was looking forward to Nico meeting his parents now.

They spent the next couple hours just talk about anything and everything, and when the wait staff finally shooed them out, they just wandered around as they found their way into the park.

"Thank you for today, I really needed it." she rested her head on his shoulder as they took a little break. "I left the family estate so I didn't have to deal with family business, but it seems to follow me no matter what."

Bakugo took his arm and draped it over her shoulders so Nico could get closer. "Why not just leave if it's that much of a pain?"

"I would if it was that easy, since I hold such a high rank within the family I can't just up and leave." she sighed, "I'd lose my licence if I left now, which I don't mind, it just means I'd have to do all the paperwork again."

"I'm sorry, you're a pro hero?" Bakugo asked looking down at her in shock, "Why the hell are you going to UA then?"

"I'm at UA because I want to have a normalish life. It's a Gatta tradition they we get our full license at sixteen, I know it sounds like an odd tradition but that's just how it is." Nico explained, "But you can't tell the others, no one is supposed to find out. That was one of the conditions Nezu put in place when I enrolled."

"I'll take it to the grave." Bakugo vowed, "I just like the idea of my girlfriend being a pro hero. I guess you've seen some pretty intense battles."

"Nope, I've been sidelined because my cat is so small. To be honest I don't mind, it gives me time to work on my other quirk." she admitted, "and that's another condition that was put in place, I am to refrain from doing anything that isn't part of the provisional license unless it's an extreme emergency."

"That has to suck, why let you keep your licence at all then." he started to play with the ends of her hair. "It doesn't seem very fair to put restrictions on you like that."

Nico smiled, it was nice to have someone pissed off for her for a change. "It's fine, I happily agreed to them. Less pressure on me so I can enjoy my time in school." she curled into him a little more, "I left home so I could be like others my own age, and I can't do that if I have full status."

"I still say it isn't fair, but if you're fine with it then it's alright." Nico laughed as Bakugo let the subject drop, "Yeah you might think it's funny, it's the truth."

"I find your dislike of my restriction cute, and I like that you called me your girlfriend." she looked up at him, her cheeks a little pink. "It makes me feel special."

"Yeah well you better get used to it." He said as a pair of elderly women past by, smiling and whispering about young love. Their comments made the pair blush deeper, "Maybe we should head back now." Bakugo got up and offered Nico his hand.

"As long as we take the long way there. I'm in no rush to get back." she gladly took the offered hand and let him pull her up to her feet.


	13. Best Friends

13 - Best friends

For most of the next day Nico kept to her room, going over the papers left by Nagisa. _If I understand this right, they want the families to work together more closely. But how is that going to work?_ She flipped through the pages trying to see what it was she missed. "Damn that rat, he didn't give me all the pages." she slammed her hand down on the table and went for her phone.

"Hey house cat, you going to come out of here some time today?" Bakugo asked as he opened the door when she didn't answer him.

"I should have known he would do that, I guess I have to come get them don't I?" he caught her in the middle of a conversation.

"Yeah sorry runt, I'd bring them to you but we're extra busy here getting ready for the first round of negotiations." Nick said as Nico groaned. "It's not super important what you're missing, it can wait for tomorrow when I can swing by. Don't worry about it today, it's nice outside why not go and enjoy the day."

"No I need to show Nagisa that he can't mess with me and get away with it." she sighed, "It's going to take all day to get there and back and I was looking forward to spending my day with Katsuki."

Bakugo didn't say anything, he wanted to hear what Nick had to say. "Oh first name, seems blondie gets special treatment now." he could hear the smirk in Nick's voice, "I take it your date yesterday went well."

Nico smiled a little, "It did, and he even asked me to meet his parents." she turned to sit on the bed and caught sight of Bakugo in the corner of her eye.

"Well now, should I be expecting him to come talk…" Nico cut him off by end the call.

"Awe come on he was getting to the good part." Bakugo laughed as she turned beet red. "You didn't have to end the call on my account. I just came by to see if you wanted to go for a walk or something."

"Just how much of that did you hear?" she was starting to think that she needed to put bells on her teammates so they couldn't sneak up on her.

"I'm not telling, I think letting freak out would be so much more fun." he smirked, leaning on the doorframe. "So you going to be going home today? I would have thought that you could get any info you wanted from icy hot." he said as her ears perked up a little.

Nico slammed her against her forehead, "I'm such an idiot, of course I could get the missing information from him." she jumped up, grabbed the papers and gave Bakugo a quick kiss, "thanks for the idea, it shouldn't take long then we can go do whatever we want." she skipped past him and down to the common area.

"Hey wait for me." he called after her, "You can't just run off like that." it didn't take him long to catch up with her.

"Sorry but I really need to make sure I understand what's going on." she bounced to a stop by Shoto. "Hey Todoroki, I was wondering if I could pick your brain on something?" she asked grabbing a seat across from him. "My cousin dropped these off for me but I don't have all the pages, I was hoping you'd be able to fill me in."

Shoto turned the stack so he could see what she was talking about. "I didn't know you were so high up in your family to know about this." he looked at her, "Basically my father wants to have your family be some kind of internal police for the hero organizations."

"Of course, because we don't involve ourselves with their politics." she narrowed her eyes, "I don't like it. I mean having a neutral third party is fine and everything, but I get the feeling there is more to it than that." she played with the end of her tail as she thought.

"I think that as well, but there is little that we can do." Shoto echoed her thoughts, "We are still just high school students, despite everything we've proven we can do."

"Yeah, thanks for the help Todoroki. Sorry for bugging you." she took her papers and rolled them up. "It was a big help talking with you."

"Not a problem, any time you have more questions about this proposal I'd be happy to answer them for you." Shoto said as Bakugo lifted Nico over his shoulder.

"Katsuki, what the hell?" she braced her hands against his back, "That was a little rude don't you think?" she wasn't sure why all of a sudden she was being carried off, but she wanted to know why.

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you." Bakugo muttered, "It bugged me, him being nice to you like that."

Nico managed to wiggle free, "You hot head, he was being nice to me to make sure that this deal between the families goes smoothly." she punched his arm and glared at him, "No need to get territorial when it comes to anyone else."

"You make it sound like I was jealous or something." he backed her up into a wall, "It's bad enough that I got to share time with Deku, so what if I don't want anyone else looking at you that way."

"Really? I'd say your more than jealous at this point." she planted her hand on his chest, "I will give you one warning, if you think getting possessive over me will impress anyone you are sorely mistaken. I will talk with anyone and if you don't like it you're going to have to find a way to deal with it." she stared him down, "Do I make myself clear?"

"I just want you all to myself, but if I have to share your time with the others, then I'll just have to make sure that I get at least one day just for us." he tried to move closer, but Nico held her arm firm.

"I'm going to hold you to that." she moved her arm with a small smile, "But you won't like me if you step out of line."

"Oh yeah, just what will the itty bitty kitty going to do to big bad me?" he taunted her tilting her chin. "Look at you, going all red. The mighty warrior blushing like a schoolgirl, makes me love you that much more." he leaned into kiss her but was interrupted by Izuku.

"Nico, you might want to come out here. Your aunt just showed up and she's not very pleased with something." he stammered and backing up as Bakugo glared at him.

"I'll be right there, just try to keep your answers short and to the point." Nico said as Izuku ran off back the way he came. "We should go, Auntie Nina really doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"We're not finished here, but we can pick it up later." he pulled away from her but she didn't move away from the wall. "You need that wall for something?"

"Promise you won't laugh if I show you?" Nico asked as he nodded. "Whenever I get excited or scared my tail likes to puff out." she left her tail out from between her and the wall, it was almost double in size.

"I think that will be useful to know." he noted as they made their way to the common area. "I'm going to love seeing just what makes your fur stand on end."

"Nicole Diana Gatta, I do not have all day, get you ass out here right now." Nina snapped as they came into sight, "My idiot brother was worried that something had happened to you by the way you ended your call. Clearly he was so very wrong." she noted the state of Nico's tail.

Nico flinched at the use of her full name, "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am. I didn't mean to hang up on him but I came up with a way to get the information I was missing."

Clearly not pleased with that answer, "I guess you won't need this complete report then." Nina help out the file, "but maybe you should take it anyways as you have all bout killed your copy." both Nico and Bakugo looked at the now extremely crushed report.

"Thank you auntie, is there anything else you need?" Nico took the folder from her aunt.

"Not right now. You're just luck I was close by." she gave Bakugo one last glare, "I will be calling you later to discuss certain subjects with you and you best be alone when I do."

"Yes ma'am." Nico said as Nina shifted into a cheetah and trotted for the open door. "Sweet hell she's going to pin me to the wall." Nico went to a chair as her legs gave out from under her.

Bakugo went over and sat on the arm of her chair, "Let me guess this is going to have something to do with me." she nodded, "Can your aunt really be that scary?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Nico lean onto him, "I'm afraid that she isn't too happy with me about you." she could sense his next question and answered before he could ask. "I'm kind of on a short leash while I'm away from the estate. I wasn't supposed to fall in love, but it's kind of hard with you around."

"How is it you haven't lost your mind with all these rules?" Bakugo ran a hand over her hair, "I guess this is because of you mother, they don't want a repeat of what happened."

"Your guess is as good as mine. The old man has already told me that he will be taking care of arranging a marriage for me but he at the same time let me come here so I can't tell what he's thinking." she leaned into his hand, "Certain things just can't be stopped, so I say to hell with them if they don't like it."

"That's the spirit babe, now how about you get changed and then we go see about doing something." he smiled as she whined when he took his hand back. "Might as well enjoy your last day to the fullest before Nina rips you a new one."

"Alright, I mean as long as I'm back to be yell at then what's the harm."

Nico had set her laptop up so when Nina called that night her aunt could give her the glares along with the verbal lashing. "Nicole Diana, are you out of your mind?" Nina demanded as soon as Nico answered the call. "I allowed Nicolas to take those boys with you to the cabin because he said he wanted to work on your team building, and then I find you coming out of god knows where with your tail looking like that. Just what kinds of things did my idiot brother allow to go on while you were away?"

"Nothing like that auntie, and my tail was puffed out because he managed to sneak up on me." Nico explained while not giving the whole truth. "Uncle Nick had us running one of his gauntlets so we didn't have time to do much else."

Nina narrowed her eyes, "I still don't like that you're getting close to that Bakugo boy, not with the spring cycle coming up. That and you know what your grandfather has said on the matter."

"Auntie, I love you but you're being over protective." Nico sighed, "Please understand that I need to be able to handle the cycles on my own, I'm going to have to learn how to deal with them while being around guys." It wasn't the first time they had this conversation since she had moved into the dorms. "It's going to be rough for the first few times but I will be able to get through it because I have friends who care."

Nina still wasn't sold on the fact Nico was ready for this on her own, "I want you to call if it gets to be too much and I'll be there in a heartbeat. Your uncle died laughing when I told him what had happened and asked me to pass a message along to the young man. He is to come see Nicolas if wants to steal you away first."

Nico tried fighting back a smile when Nina said that. "Oh no you don't, I see what's going on here. No I forbid it, I am not going through this again. I will not get caught up in the middle of this mess because your uncle wants to defy our father. I will become a teacher at that school if that's what it takes to keep you from starting a war within the family." Nina snapped, "I will not allow either one of you to do something stupid that will cause a scene."

"Auntie, you're the only one making a scene. I know for a fact you like your job with the family so you wouldn't leave it just to babysit me, you know how Uncle Nick likes to stir the pot and send you into a tizzy." Nico looked down at the time on her screen, "It's getting late and I have class in the morning. I'll call you every night if it makes you feel better, good night."

"I trust you to know your boundaries." Nina relented a little. "Just be careful the cycle has already started making its way through the estate, you won't have much longer before it takes you too. Sweet dreams Kit, and do call if you need me for anything." Nina hung up and Nico closed her computer.

_Holy hell, Nina has gone off the deep end._ Nico thought as she flopped back onto the floor with a deep sigh, _But I guess she doesn't want a repeat of mama and papa and I understand that it would open old wounds but she doesn't need to lose her mind over it._ She rolled over as someone knocked on the door.

"Finally someone with manners, come on in." she called out as Ochaco popped in. "And what can I do for my favorite anti gravity hero today?"

"The guys were worried that your aunt would pull you from school, and I don't mean just Deku and Bakugo. Most of them were waiting for you to come back down to see what happened." she explained stepping over Nico to sit on the bed, "They sent me up here to see who it was going."

"Auntie Nina can be pretty scary when she wants to be but she's a fluffy kitten once you get on her good side." Nico pushed herself up, "I take you hear what she said about my cycle. It's written all over your face."

"I didn't to listen in, but why is she so worried about you?" Nico loved that her friend as concerned for her. "It's not like you're living in a house with all guys."

"My cycle is a lot different than yours. While you go through a monthly cycle where you get cramps and wish every male on the face of the earth dead, I get them once every four months. And trust me, it is so very far from a blessing, they are so intense that I actually run a fever while it feels like my body is being ripped apart." Nico watch Ochaco flinch a little, "Yeah, I can thank my cat for that. Why do you think cats make so much noise when they are in heat, I'd kill to have a cycle like yours."

"I guess every quirk has its drawbacks, but that one has to be the worst. Are you going to be able to come to class?" Ochaco was really worried for her friend now.

"Probably not the first couple times, but once I get a handle on how to control the pain I'll be fine. I got my fridge stocked with cold packs so I'm good to go, the only think auntie Nina is concerned with is my sense of smell while it's sharp right now it's going to get sharper and I'll be able to tell if any of the guys come on this side of the hall."

"She's worried that you being in a state of pain you won't be able to fight any guy off if they try something." Ochaco stated as Nico tapped her nose.

"Right on the money, so I'm going to be couldn't on you and the other girls to help keep them away. I don't know what'll happen if I catch their scents." Nico said as Ochaco gave her a thumbs up.

"You can count on us. You can message me if you need help, and I'll be right here." Ochaco smile then leapt onto Nico, crushing her in a hug.

"Now I know that I'm glad I came here, I wouldn't have expected to make such great friends." they landed on the floor giggling, Nico couldn't think of a better place she could ever want to be.


	14. Gunpowder

14 - Gunpowder

The next couple weeks went smoothly, Nico was knew that is was only a matter of time before everything went sideways on her. At the beginning of the week it started with a prickling in her skin and a dull ache that came from every muscle, as the week progressed it got to the point where she became familiar with the scents of each of her friends.

By friday it had hit the point where she couldn't be in the same room as the guys without getting a little dizzy. All it took was a tap on Ochaco's shoulder and she vanished back to her room to get herself together. She was grateful that the fever had waited until the weekend to finally spike.

Waking up and feeling like she was on fire she knew it was time to tag her friends in for guard duty. Crawling over to her phone, Nico sent Ochaco a message that contained three letters and within minutes her friend had helped her back into bed and was covering the overheating cat girl with cold packs from the fridge.

"Thanks so much. I don't know what I would have done without you." Nico panted as Ochaco placed a pack on her forehead.

"What are friends for. Anything you need before I go fill the others in on what's going on?" she offered as Nico pointed to her phone.

"I need you to let Izu and Katsuki know they really need to keep their distance. Just say I'm sick and I don't want them to get it." Nico didn't want them to worry but didn't want them to come to see her. "I thought it was bad when it was just my uncle in the house, it was a sensory overload just sitting around having dinner last night, in class what just as bad."

"Don't worry, we'll do our best to keep the guys away." Ochaco patted Nico's hand gently before going out into the hall to brief the other girls.

"How is she?" Momo asked once Ochaco closed the door. "I know you two said it was going to get bad, but shouldn't we take her to Recovery Girl?"

"That would only make it worse. Nico said she just needs to ride it out." Ochaco said as the sound of footsteps caught the group's attention.

They turned to see a couple of the guys following Bakugo down the hall. "What the hell, if she's sick then we should take her to a doctor." he snapped as Momo and Ochaco stepped in to his path.

"It's just a cold, nothing rest won't fix." Ochaco stood with her arms out. "Nico said that she didn't want to get you sick that's why she asked me to look after her."

"Why don't you and everyone else go back downstairs and let poor Nico rest. She'll come down once she's feeling better." Momo added noticing Bakugo wasn't backing down.

It became a battle of wills until Ochaco tapped Bakugo on the shoulder, making him float. "Deku, get him out of here." the smaller boy grabbed Bakugo's pant leg and pulled him back downstairs. "I won't be able to keep him at bay like that all day, but we did buy a little time." she put her fingers together, releasing her quirk and Bakugo in the process.

"So it's going to be keeping Bakugo busy more than anyone else." Mina leaned against the window sill, "Maybe we can get a couple of the guys to pitch in, he'd know something was off if it was only us playing defence."

"He listens to Kirishima to some extent, and Denki too. Maybe we can get those two to get him out of here for most of the day." Kyoka suggested, "Maybe we could even convince Bakugo to pick up something for her to eat, if anyone would know her it would be him."

"Alright ladies, this is what's going to happen," Momo took charge, "Kyoka you go let Denki know our plan and get him to pass it along Kirishima. Toru I'd like you to watch the stairs and trip up Bakugo if he tries to come this way." the pair went down and spread their plan through the ones they knew would help. "Leaves the four of us guard the door and look after her, if we work in pairs it will spread our time efficiently."

"If it's all the same, I think Nico only wants one of us coming and going." Ochaco chimed in. "Since the guys think I'm the only one that's been in contact with her I can do most of the work."

"Alright, if it will put Nico at ease." Momo nodded, "Just tag one of us in if you need a hand."

"You got it, now go see if the others need a hand I got Nico covered." Ochaco turned back to Nico's room and went in.

While the girls plotted, Bakugo was nursing the lump on his head from Ochaco releasing her quirk. _What is the fuck problem, I just wanted to make sure my girlfriend was alright._ He pressed ice pack against the side of his head, watching as Kyoka whisper something to Denki and the pair of them head in Kirishima's direction. _What are they up to?_

"How's you head?" Izuku asked as he joined Bakugo on the couch.

"Like I hit it off the stairs." he snapped, "Think you make a distraction for me?" As much as it killed him, Bakugo needed Izuku's help getting past the girls. "I gotta know it's just a cold."

The smaller boy could see how much it meant to his friend, "Alright, but just this once." Izuku went over and disappeared up the stairs. A few minutes later Bakugo got a message on his phone saying he had a ten minute opening.

Not wasting a moment, he flew up the stairs. "We've gotten her fever down for now," Ochaco stood in front of Nico's door. "I'm going to give you five minutes. I don't know how much she'll be able to take."

"Fine whatever, just let me in." Bakugo growled as Ochaco took a sidestep out of his way. When Bakugo went into the room her could feel the temperature change, it was colder than the rest of the dorm.

"Katsuki, I thought I told you to stay away." Nico said as stiffly pushed herself up. "Did you bully Ochaco?" most of the cold pack dropped to the bed around her.

"Don't you worry about her house cat, you look like hell." he went of sat on the edge of the bed. "If you're sick it shouldn't be so cold in here, you'll just make it worse."

She gave him a weak smile, "I need it like this, don't worry about me so much. I'll be fine in a day or two." Nico wanted to hug him, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to get any closer. "I know you tried bullying you way in here earlier, it wasn't very nice."

He gave her a confused look, "We were at the end of the hall, there is no way you should have heard us." Nico tapped her nose.

"I could smell you." when that answer didn't clear anything up, she continued to explain. "Everyone has a unique scent to them, it's kind of like a fingerprint. For example, Ochaco smells like lilies while Iida's reminds me of the wind up at the cabin."

"And just what do I smell like?" Bakugo asked sliding closer, "Should I be jealous that you use the speed freak instead of me?"

Nico rolled her eyes at him, "Normally people don't want to know what they smell like, but I guess since you're not normal I should have expected it. Gunpowder, it reminds me for going to watch fireworks with my parents. As crazy as it sounds it's the most soothing scent in the house."

"Just how does that work?" he asked but she just shrugged, "Well if it's going to help, here." he pulled his shirt off and tossed it at her. "You can give it back when you're feeling better."

"Like that's going to happen." Nico managed to laugh a little before the pain got to her. "I should try to get a little sleep. You don't have to worry about me, I'll be back to normal in no time." she could see Bakugo was still very worried about her. "How about you bring me up dinner later if it makes you less worried."

"Like there was anything stopping me before." he got up and kiss the top of her head, making Nico purr loudly. "I'll be back later then, take it easy."

"I will as long as you come back and see me later." she smiled as Bakugo left. Once Nico knew she was alone she spread his shirt out on the bed and shifted to her cat form and curled up into a ball, purring loudly the entire time. _I'm going to have to ask auntie why I start feeling better when he's around._ She thought drifting off into a deep sleep.

Spending most of the day in Bakugo's shirt, Nico loved that it was like he was there with her, making her cycle more tolerable. She had just made herself comfortable again when a knock came at the door. "You awake house cat?" Bakugo asked as came in with something for her to eat.

She stuck her head out of the sleeve enough to watch him but not have him notice her just yet. "You even in here?" he looked around and noticed the red tail poking out the bottom of the shirt. "Clearly someone is taking living my shirt a little far. Come on out and eat, I got you something special for after."

That caught her attention, slipping out of the shirt Nico jumped down and into Bakugo's lap before shifting, "Yeah I like this better." she nuzzled into his neck, "I'm still keeping the shirt, but nothing can compare to the real thing."

"Why don't you think about eating instead of sniffing me." he tried to turn her, but she let out a sound that was a mix of a growl and a whine. "Don't you give me attitude, you need to eat."

"I just missed you all day, let me enjoy this a little more first." she grumbled, it had felt like a lifetime since she was this close to him.

"You've lost your mind, I was here this morning." he wasn't about to admit it, but he had missed having her close. "Will you eat already, it's going to go cold." he said as Nico made herself comfortable with her dinner.

"So what did you guys get up to, Ochaco told me that Denki and Kiri dragged you out." she slowly picked at her food, "From what I understand they all but tied you up to get you out of the house."

"Yeah well I didn't want to go far if you needed me." he started scratching behind one of her ears. "But I guess you had the girls to keep you company, so at least you weren't lonely."

Nico leaned back a little into his hand, lightly purring. "I slept most of the day, while I did like having the other girls keep me company, it wasn't you."

Bakugo looked down at her, "You're not really sick, are you?" he knew he was right when her tail stopped moving, "I might have overheard heard a couple of the others. Why didn't you just say what was going on to begin with."

"I don't like anyone seeing we when I'm at my weakest. Though I for some reason don't feel like I normally do when this time comes around." She admitted, "I have a theory that it has something to do with you. I plan on calling my aunt later to see if she can fill me in on why that might be." Nico looked at the plate he had brought her, "did you put enough on here? I might not have eaten much today but there's enough here for two."

"I may have grabbed enough for both of us, but I didn't count on you sitting on me." Bakugo said as she looked up at him and just smiled. "Being cute with me now, nice try. Just eat what you can and I'll take care of the rest." he went back to scratching her ear while she ate, both falling into a content silence other than the low rumble of Nico's purring.


	15. How'd I end up here?

15 - How'd I end up here?

The morning light came pouring, making Nico stir a little. _Looks like I survived the spring cycle without a call home._ She thought, stretching her arms out as she made her way to freshen up. _I still have to call auntie to find out why Katsuki's scent helped, but that can wait for later._

It didn't take her long to realize that she wasn't in her own room, starting with the fact that none of her face products were in the washroom. Looking around Nico wasn't sure where she was, _Oh boy I'm not in Kansas anymore. What the hell is going on?_ She closed her eyes and tried to remember what happened after Bakugo left her the night before but it was a blank.

All her instincts told her she wasn't in any kind of danger and that she was still in the dorm. A knocking on the washroom door sent her into a panic, and Nico went into defence mod as she opened the door.

"Oi, what the hell has gotten into you." Bakugo demanded as she swiped at him. "Clearly you're back to being yourself, somewhat."

Relaxing a little, Nico dropped her hands. "What the actual fuck, care to tell me what happened and how I ended up here?" she turned her panic into anger.

"Why you pissed with me? You're the one who snuck in here." he snapped back at her, "You nearly took Deku's face when he got too close to you."

"I'm pissed because I don't know how I ended up in your room. The last thing I can really remember is you saying good night before I turned in for the night." Nico could see her confusion mirrored on Bakugo's face. "I'm going to get changed and then we can figure out what the hell happened last night."

As she pushed past, Bakugo caught her by the arm. "You really don't remember anything?" he asked as she shook her head.

"I wish I could, but it's a giant blank. There's only one other time that I have a gap in my memory like this but I don't think you put catnip on my pillow." she pulled her arm free, "Just what did I do?"

"You showed up at my window like some crazy demon stalker. I called Deku to get a little backup in case you went all psycho, as it turned out, he was the one that needed the help. You took a couple of swipes at him and you even managed to land a few scratches. Then you turned into your cat form and passed out cold." Bakugo said as Nico looked at her nails and there was a little blood under them. "Don't worry, you didn't hurt him too bad."

"I did what?" she looked at him, scared of what kind of damage she had done.

Bakugo took Nico's hands in his, "Just a few little nics on his arms, nothing too bad." he tried to put her at ease, but it didn't look to him like it was working. "I managed to get between the two of you before you could take his head off." he turned his face and Nico saw four faint lines on his cheek.

"I got you too, let me see." Nico went to reach for his cheek but he wouldn't let go of her hands. "Don't go acting like it's nothing, that has to hurt."

Bakugo leaned forward and put his forehead on hers, "I don't even notice them, I'm just happy to see you're back to normal. I think Deku called your aunt already so she should be showing up…" he didn't get to finish his thought because a loud growl cut him off.

"Nicole I thought I told you to call if anything happened." Nina shouted from the hall. "I should have been woken up this morning to a panicked voice mail from the green haired boy."

Slipping away from Bakugo, Nico went to confront her aunt. "I was going to call you later today." she snapped crossing her arms in front of her. "There's no need to be a bitch."

"Kit I will let that one slide, but I am warning you not to take an attitude with me." Nina didn't back down from Nico's challenging presence, "I am still you aunt and I am not going to put up with it." she warned Nico as the teen growled.

"You come into my territory and start trying to pull rank with me," Nico dropped her arms and started to circle Nina. "I thought you knew better than that." she continued to growl as Nina moved along with Nico, not letting her get behind her.

"What did you do to her?" Nina snapped at Bakugo, "I need to know everything that happened in the last week."

Nico took a swipe at Nina when she thought her aunt wasn't paying attention, but the older woman stepped out of the way. "I wouldn't take your eyes off of me if I were you, I've gotten faster since the last time we fought." Nico snarled, taking another swipe. "You may be a cheetah on the inside, but I've been keeping up with my training." Bakugo caught sight of Nico's eyes, they were darker and more animal like than usual.

"Nothing out of the ordinary happened until last night, when she started acting like this." Bakugo answered, watching them dance around each other. "She says she doesn't remember what happened."

"Fine then, go over with me what happened yesterday. Start from the morning and walked me through everything." Nina was just barely able to keep herself over of Nico's reach, she was a little proud that Nico had managed to keep her on her toes but now wasn't the time for such thoughts.

"I went to see her after I got a message telling me to stay away, got dragged away but then Uraraka let me see her for like five minutes when I left her my shirt." Bakugo talked fast because it looked like Nico was getting the upper hand. "She said that the way I smelled was soothing."

"Was that the last time you saw her?" Nina was starting to get an idea of what was going on, "Boy this is important, did you spend any more time with Nicole after you left your shirt?"

"Yeah I brought up dinner and we ate together." he watched as Nina grabbed Nico's arm and held it against her back. "She sat in my lap the entire time."

"Alright so it's your fault then." Nina tripped Nico and slammed her into the floor, pinning her with a knee in the middle of her back. "I had a feeling this would happen, I just didn't think it would be the first time. Unfortunately you triggered the animal within without realizing it, we're going to need to get her outside." she hit a couple of pressure points in the back of Nico's neck making the thrashing girl go still. "And you will be keeping your distance for the rest of the day. There will be no negotiation about it, I should have made her come home." Nina picked up the sleeping girl and left Bakugo wondering what he had done.

An hour later Nico finally woke up, "Owie, why does it feel like I got run over by a train." she rubbed the side of her face that had made contact with the floor.

"I wouldn't say train," Nina said from beside her, "but I'm just as fast. Feeling any better?" she watched Nico sit up stiffly.

"Auntie? When did you get here?" Nico asked as she looked around, seeing that they were in the little courtyard of the dorm. "And when did I get outside? It happened again, didn't it?"

Nina nodded, "You heard me and it sent you off the deep end. Unfortunately I didn't know the full extent of what was going on." she smoothed out some of Nico's hair, "I had to put you in your place, but that boy's scent woke a dormant part of your cat and sent it into overdrive."

"You have got to be kidding me," Nico groaned, burying her face into Nina's shoulder. "Just kill me now, and here I thought I just got lucky and nothing went wrong."

Nina struggled not to laugh at Nico, "I know Kit, but it was on the last day so you did have a little luck. Just imagine how this could have gone if this had happened in the middle of the week."

"I don't want to think about that. Oh god I hurt Izu while in a frenzy, have you seen him, how bad is it?" she started to panic hoping that she didn't hurt anyone else.

Nina put her arm around Nico, "Don't worry Kit, he's fine. If it hadn't been for the blonde idiot jumping in when he did, it would have been worse than a few shallow cuts." Nico leaned into her aunt, "This mess is my fault, I should have made you come home until this was over. On top of that I might have to pay to fix the floor, I might have put you down a little harder than necessary."

"Well that would explain why my head is killing me." Nico laughed a little, "Thank you for coming when you did, I could have turned into a total psychopath." she said as someone tapped on the glass door.

The cats looked over to see Izuku waving, Nico flattened her ears down on her head feeling guilty about all the bandages on his arms. "Kit, it wasn't your fault, you weren't in control of yourself. It doesn't look like he blames you." Nina tried to make her feel better, but when she saw that words weren't working she wave Izuku over.

"Good to see you're finally awake." he watched as Nico slid behind Nina, "Are you feeling better?" Nico nodded from over Nina's shoulder, retreating farther behind her aunt.

"Nicole, don't be a scaredy cat. You are not a child, I will not have you hiding like one." Nina scolded her, "I'm going to see if your room has been properly aired out, we don't need you going into another frenzy." Nina got up and let Nico with Izuku.

"Auntie," Nico whimpered as she helplessly watched her leave. "I'm so sorry I hurt you." she looked down at the ground, trying not to cry.

"You weren't yourself, Nina explained what happened to you." Izuku said as he went to sit next to her. "Did Kacchan tell you what happened last night?"

"Not really, he called me a crazy demon stalker so I take it I was totally batshit." she shifted a little to keep her distance from him. "Care to add the story."

"It was almost ten when I got a message from Kacchan that you were acting oddly." Izuku pulled up the message for her, "By the time I got up there, you were perched on the balcony railing just watching. I have to admit it was really creepy how still you were sitting, and your eyes were so dark and more cat like than normal."

"My cat was hunting, this is so much worse than the time Nagisa and Nori coated my pillow with catnip." Nico curled up on herself, "I could have done some serious damage if it hadn't been for Katsuki. I'm dangerous, I shouldn't be living here." she dropped her head onto her knees and sniffled back her tears.

"No one has complete control over their quirk right away." he moved close and pulled her into a side hug. "And while we're here each of us is learning how to get a better control over our powers. What better place to find out flaws than is a place that has so many eyes, just think of what could have happened if you lost your mind somewhere else." Izuku realized that he wasn't helping when she curled in tighter, her tail wrapped across her legs.

"I leave you for ten minutes and you make her cry." Nina said as she came back to a stack of clothes. "Kit you are going for a bath and then we're going out. Clearly being around here right now isn't helping."

Nico got to her feet and took the pile, "Yes, ma'am." and she dashed inside without another word.

Nina turned to Izuku, "Please keep trying to get through to her, you and the other one. While I won't say this to him but the pair of you are good for her, I haven't seen her so happy in a long time." she said as Izuku got to his feet, "I don't want this incident to set her back, not with how far she's come."

"We won't let you down, if it comes to it we can just get Denki to go full stupid and that should get a small laugh at the least." Izuku promised, "But you might want to tell Kacchan that he isn't in the dog house anymore. He looks so heartbroken." he pointed up to the window overlooking the courtyard where they saw Bakugo watching them.

"I'll let him suffer a little longer, while I appreciate what you two did last night, it doesn't mean I accept him like my brother does." she turned back to Izuku, "I will bring Nicole back later, hopefully I can get her to stop feeling bad about what happened."

"Why don't you try to come back for dinner, it's Kacchan's turn to cook and I know he'd love it if you joined us." Nina narrowed her eyes at the boy, "It wouldn't hurt to give him a small chance."

"We'll see, but for now I'll let him stew." she turned, giving Bakugo one last look before going to check on Nico.

Nina took Nico for a wander around the mall, "Is there anything for school while we're here?" she tried to get Nico to say something, "Or is there anything you want to get? I know I scold Nicolas for spoiling you but I think it's my turn."

"I'm fine, I came and stocked up on everything last week with Katsuki." Nico quietly answered. "You don't have to do this if there's somewhere else you need to be. I'll be fine by myself."

"I made sure that I didn't have to go into work today, so you have me all to yourself for a change." Nina said as she spotted a small ice cream parlor. "I know something we haven't done in forever." she grabbed Nico's hand and pulled her along. "You get us a table and I'll get the ice cream."

"Alright auntie." NIco trotted of and round a table near a window so she people watch while she waited. It didn't take Nina long to come over and sat across from her.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Nina asked, watching Nico play with her spoon. When she didn't answer, Nina put a hand over Nico's. "I think I have a story that might help you understand what happened."

When Nico didn't object, Nina launched into her tale. "Many moon long since past, there was an alley cat. Now this cat thought that she was the best of everything and there were very few that could prove her wrong. She was so proud that there wasn't anyone who could best her in a race that she would take on anyone." Nina noticed that Nico was paying close attention now.

"So one day a young track star came along and beat the alley cat in a race, now instead of being upset that she had lost like everyone thought she would be, the alley cat started following around the track star. She had fallen in love with him and his scent that reminded her of the wind itself, but there was a problem, the track star did not love her in return because he had someone else already."

"What happened to the alley cat when she found that out?" Nico asked, "It must have crushed her to have fallen in love with someone but not to have the feeling returned."

Nina nodded, "It did, it made her feel like her heart had been shattered into a thousand pieces. But that wasn't the worst of it, as the time passed it only made the ache in her heart worse and by the time the winter cycle had come around, the alley cat lost her mind to the hate and pain that she went off and did something horrible." she had to pause, it wasn't an easy story for Nina to retell. "She got lost in a frenzy and ended up hunting the girlfriend of the track star. It wasn't until the morning when the alley cat woke up in the snow, covered in blood did she realize what had happened."

"Did the other girl survive?" Nico whispered, it was clear on her face that the story was hitting home.

"Barely, but it was after that did the alley cat start to fear herself and the very real treat she was." Nina took Nico's hand between hers, "She became very afraid of going through her cycles surrounded by people, in case that another frenzy would grip her so thoroughly that there would only be the beast left. She would often sit up and think of every possible terrifying scenario that it almost drove her mad. I don't want you to become like the alley cat, she didn't let people in when it was clear that she needed help."

"But how do I keep from losing myself, I don't want to be a treat to my friends if there's a chance it could happen again." Nico watched Nina run a finger along the lines on her palm. "I hurt Izu, while it wasn't too bad it could have been much worse."

"That's why you need to let people in, as soon as your cat doesn't see them as a treat to you, it will calm down." Nina said, placing her finger tip on the center of Nico's palm. "What happened this time was because you found the scent that calms you and you overdid it taking it in. Do you remember when Nagisa played that horrible prank on you? It was just like that, too much stimulation and your cat reacted."

"So I would have been fine if I hadn't taken Katsuki's shirt?" Nico tried figuring out just where she had gone wrong and would do her best to avoid doing it in the future.

"I think the shirt was fine, I think it was you sitting in his lap and being close like that was what triggered it. You can be in the same room as long as you are aware of your limits, at least you'll know for next time." Nina said as Nico's ears picked up a little. "I will admit that I didn't like the fact that it was a mixed dorm but I see now that it is a good thing, you were going to have to deal with this eventually."

"But you're not going to accept Katsuki just yet, are you?" Nico asked with a smile, she knew that Nina wasn't going to roll over as easily as Nick had.

Nina let out a small humorless laugh, "I am not Nicolas, that boy needs to earn my respect. I am allowing him a chance tonight when I return you back to school, your friend Izuku offered for me to join you and your classmates for dinner."

"I do have one question about story, did the alley cat ever talk to the track star after what happened?"

"Every once and awhile," Nina answered, turning to watch the crowds. "Last she heard he had become a teacher at some big name school."

"Well maybe if the alley cat goes to visit her niece every so often, she might just get to see the track star." Nico turned her attention back to her ice cream to avoid the glare from her aunt. "Just a suggestion, it's not like I would be telling the alley cat that if she really wanted to talk with him that using her niece as an excuse would be a good way to do it."

"Kit you're treading on thin ice." Nina warned her, but it didn't carry much weight because of her smile. "I will warn you not to meddle in affairs that are not your own."

Nico gave Nina a look of mock hurt, "I would never, who do you take me for?"

"I think you are your mother's child and will stick her nose where it doesn't belong." Nina rolled her eyes, "How about instead of plotting, you eat up so we can make it in time for dinner."


	16. Stubborn ass

16 - Stubborn ass

Nico leaned on the counter as she watched Bakugo move around the kitchen, she had left Nina to hold court with the others in the common area. She figured that he hadn't noticed her yet because he was so focused since they got back. _I wonder what's going through his head, if I had to take a guess he's freaking out because of auntie._

Bakugo could feel the cat girl's eyes on him, but hadn't said anything. _Why the hell isn't she saying anything, anyone else would have made some kind of sound by now._ He snuck a peek over his shoulder at her, _Maybe she blames me too. That has to be it, Nina must have told her it was my fault and that's why she's not talking._

"Hey Katsuki." Nico said when she saw him look her way. "Do you need a hand with anything?"

"No." he didn't mean for his answer to be as harsh as it sounded, "I've got it under control, why don't you go back to the queen and see if she needs anything."

"I wanted to say something first." she went over and put head head on his back, "Don't turn around alright. I just wanted to say I was sorry for the madness last night, auntie explained why it happened and I know now how to control it." she tried to blink away the tears that she had been fighting back, but she wasn't able to keep together anymore.

_Crap now she's crying, what do I do?_ Bakugo panicked and turned around, "Hey why you crying, it's not like you did any real damage." he pulled her close into his chest. "And it was just Deku anyways, he's done worse to himself with his own quirk."

"That's not the point, I let the animal within me take control and put all of you at risk." she sniffled a little. "I thought I said don't turn around, I didn't want you to see me like this."

"I don't want you to hide anything from me, so if you want to cry go for it, I won't let the others see you." He held her closer, burying his face in between her ears. "I'll always be here for you when you need me."

"Thank you." she whispered, "but right now maybe you should be focusing on dinner, it's about to burn." Nico pointed to the stove as Bakugo's attention snapped back to what he had been doing.

"God dammit house cat, why'd you have distract me now?" he snapped as Nico stepped away laughing as he tried to save the food. "I'm going to make you pay for this later."

"Why don't I help out now, it'll go faster with both of us working together." Nico smiled when he went to protest, "I thought you wanted to impress auntie Nina." was all she needed to say to shut him down.

"What was low," Bakugo grumbled as picked up where he had left off with the vegetables, "I think you distracted me on purpose."

"You can keep thinking that, firecracker, whatever helps you sleep at night." Nico caught a little flash of blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah whatever, call me that again and see what happens." he could see she was planning something. "You're more trouble than your worth house cat."

They managed to get dinner served without any problems, while the pair watched Nina waiting for her to pass judgement on Bakugo's cooking. "If you two are done being creepy, Nicole come walk me out, there is something I need to talk to you about." Nina once Nico picked up their dishes.

Nina didn't have a chance to move before Aizawa came in making her falter a step. "Shota, good to see you're still breathing." she greeted him, but Nico could tell that it was different from how she would talk to anyone else.

"Nina. I had heard that another Gatta was visiting, I just thought it was Nicolas." Now Nico knew something was off, "I take it you're here because of the orders from on high?"

"What's he talking about auntie? We've been together almost all day and you hadn't said a thing." Nico could feel the others starting to gather around them. "What's going on?"

Nina looked at the gathering crowd, "You couldn't have let me get out the door, could you Shota." she grabbed Nico's attention, "Something has come up and the restrictions on you licence have been lifted for now."

Nico knew that it meant that she was going to get complicated, "When do we leave?" was all she asked, already trying to figure out how much of her gear she was going to need.

"First thing tomorrow, I was supposed to bring you back with me today but with everything…" Nina dropped off and Nico nodded. "I thought you'd be able to focus better if we dealt with this before leaving."

"I'll get my gear and we can go now. We both know better to keep grandfather waiting." she turned on her heel and rushed to collect her things as quickly as possible. She could feel Bakugo and Izuku following close behind her. "I'm sorry, I wish today hadn't been a bust. When I get back we'll do something."

"Don't worry about it, but what did your aunt mean when she said the restrictions on your licence have been lifted?" Izuku asked as they caught up with her, "Most of us only have a provisional one at best, so what makes yours so different?"

"Because it's a full one. I'll explain when I get back to everyone I promise." She kept moving, grabbing a duffle bag from the closet and started loading it. "Izu, can you give us a few minutes."

Taking the hint, Izuku went and made himself busy elsewhere. "You really going to go with her tonight?" Bakugo caught her hand.

Nico let him pull her to a stop, "I don't want to but like I said every Gatta has to come when called." she maneuvered her hand so the could thread her fingers through his. "I'd rather be here with you, but grandfather could pull me from school if he wanted so I want to keep on his good side."

"It's just not fair, you having to drop everything and go running when he calls."

"I like less than you, I would prefer to make up for the lost week but duty calls." Nico said putting her free hand on his cheek. "I'll keep in as much contact as I can and I'll do everything in my power to come home sooner."

"I'll be keeping an eye on the news too, I don't want to miss anything awesome." He promised as Nico shook her head.

"If it's Gatta business then the news won't hear about it. And I don't want you to drive yourself crazy worrying about me, do I have to make Izu look after you for me while I'm gone?" she laughed at the face he made at her suggestion.

"I notice that loser anywhere near me, I'll blow him into next year." he snapped, "Just come back in one piece, alright." he brought his lips down on hers, pulling her in close by the waist. "I don't know how I would be able to handle it if I wasn't there to protect you."

"I'm going to be just fine, I probably won't see any of the action anyways." she gave him a half smile. "I'll be back in no time, you'll see and then you can take me to meet your parents like you promised."

"Yeah, well you better be back soon then. I was going to go visit in a couple weeks, so if you want to come with me you better be back before then." he weakly smiled back, "I'll be waiting." he let go of her hand so she could finish packing.

-Two weeks later-

Izuku and Kirishima watched as Bakugo wore a hole into the floor as he paced the length of the common area. "Think we should try to get him to relax a little?" Kirishima asked as the blonde made another pass.

"I think it might be safer for everyone if we don't. We haven't heard from Nico in three days, so he's a lot on edge." Izuku said as Bakugo came to a stop in front of him.

"I'll relax when I know she's fine. She promised nothing would happen to her." he said as the sound of a car pulling up caught their attention. Without wasting a second, Bakugo launched himself at the door with the other close behind him.

"Nick will you stop fussing, I can get out of the car on my own." They heard Nico snap, "Just take my key and open the door, I can take it from here."

"You know that boyfriend of yours is going to kill me when he sees you." Nick said, unlocking the door before the guys got to it. "It was my job to look after you and now look at you."

Bakugo ripped the door open to see a stunned beat up Nick, "Where. Is. She?" was all he growled out as Nick moved out of his way. "What the fuck happened to you?" He took stock of the bandages on her face and right hand, the brace on her left arm and the wrap on her right foot. "You said they would let you fight."

"This what happens when the fighting comes to you." Nico took a careful step forward, "So I'm a little beat you, you should see the other guy." she tried to laugh but ended up groaning in pain.

"You're more than a little beat up," he scooped her up, "Deku get the gear and Kiri make sure there's a couch free." they jumped into action, mostly scared of what would happen if he had to repeat himself.

"Katsuki Bakugo, you will put me down this instant." Nico tried fighting against his grip, "I can walk just fine on my own, I don't need to be treated like this."

"You've been out of communication for three days and then you came back like this, it's clear that you can't look after yourself." Bakugo snapped. While he was relieved to see Nico had come back, her condition made him worry that there was more wrong that she showed.

"Three days!" Nico wiggled around to see Nick, "You only said it was one." she couldn't believe that she had been out for that long.

"No, what I said was that I had been with you for a day." Nick corrected her, "If I had known it had been so long I would have called them so they wouldn't worry." he followed them in and helped get Nico comfortable.

"Just what the hell happened?" Bakugo asked, sitting on the arm of the couch. "If you weren't supposed to be in the fight, just how the hell did you two end up like this."

"Their group was bigger than we thought and a small faction managed to get the drop on us." Nick said as he pulled a chair closer, "This idiot managed to pick a fight with someone that could turn themselves into diamond. While she held her own just fine for the most part, the brute got this licks in."

"Are you out of your mind? No wonder you came back broken." Nico flinched a little at Bakugo's harsh tone.

"I didn't break anything, just a sprained wrist and ankle and a couple of bruised ribs." she corrected him, "I know it wasn't a good idea to go up against him, but I didn't have a choice. I was the only one between him and the kid and I wasn't about to let our employer get hurt waiting for backup."

They just looked at her in a stunned silence for a moment, "I think you must have been hit in the head too, because you're clearly out of your mind. Just because you didn't end up actually breaking doesn't make it any less stupid." Bakugo did his best to keep from blowing up at her, but Nico was making it really hard.

"Listen here you hot head, you would have done the exact same thing had you been there. We had a job to do and I made sure it got done." she swung her legs off of the couch, "I thought of everyone, you would understand that. But if you're having a hard with it then I might have picked the wrong partner." she got up with all of her usual grace and limped off to the stairs, grabbing her bag from Izuku on the way.

Bakugo went to follow her but Nick stopped him with a shake of his head, "There's one thing you need to know about Gatta women, they need to work their anger out on their own. It would be foolish for you to follow after her now." he warned. "Just like my sisters, you're going to need to let her come back to you when she's ready." Nick patted the boy on the shoulder as he got to his feet. "You guys have my number if these two start swinging at each other."

Izuku closed the door after Nick, "Kacchan, maybe you overreacted just a little." he watched Bakugo staring down at his hands.

"I think the pretty kitty broke him." Kirishima said joining Izuku, "What do you think we should do about this?"

"Not sure, maybe we shouldn't do anything for now." they both knew better than to press Bakugo just in case his fuse was already at its end.

It took Nico three day to recover enough to take the brace and wrap off, while she still had a little limp it didn't bother her much. "Izu can I borrow your notes from all the classes I missed?" she asked one morning.

"You sure you want mine? Why don't you ask Kacchan, he's got a better view of the board than I do." Izuku lied, trying to get her to talk to Bakugo.

"I'll just ask someone else then." she turned away from him, "If he doesn't want to come and apologize for being as ass, I can always find someone else to help me catch up."

"Kacchan was just so worried about you and when he saw you all beaten up like that made him scared for you." Izuku could see that she wanted to make up with Bakugo but she was too proud to make the first move. "If you just try talking to him, you see that he cares about your safety."

"My safety isn't something for him to get worked up over. I had a job that needed to get done and I made sure it was done." Nico ended the conversation and went to go get ready for the day.

"Hey," she heard Bakugo as she came around the corner, "can we talk?" Nico had been giving him a cold shoulder unless it was absolutely necessary. When she didn't answer he continued. "I know I was overreacting but we hadn't heard from you in days and you looked like hell."

"So you took it upon yourself to treat me like I was able to take care of myself." she snapped, "If you had asked I would have told you that I was mostly healed." she went and leaned on her door with her arms crossed. "You should know by now that I don't like being treated like I'm weak, especially in front of anyone."

"I knew you'd be a stubborn ass and refuse help when you needed it." Bakugo shot back, "I was really worried when I saw you like that because I really care about you." he muttered the last part into his hand.

"I'm sorry I think I missed that, mind repeating that a little louder." Nico had heard him just fine, she just wanted to make him say it again.

"You heard me, I said I cared for you." he snapped as she closed the gap between them.

"That's all you had to say, I've missed having you close." she bounced up on her toes to kiss his cheek, "But you needed to learn a lesson. You going to overreact in the future?"

Wrapping an arm around her, "Every time I can't be with you, so learn to deal with it." he held her close, savoring her weight against him. "And we're going to see my folk this weekend, so let's hope you're ready."


	17. Just a regular old house cat

17 - Just a regular old house cat.

"Will you stop fidgeting already, I said you look fine and I meant it." Bakugo noticed Nico fixing her skirt for the thousandth time. "Why is you can go off and be all tough in front of just about anyone else but one housewife has you freaking out."

"I want her to like me." she patted some imaginary dust from her clothes, "I think right now I would take that diamond guy in a fight again than not have you mother dislike me." she adjusted her hat, making sure her ears were still hidden.

"Babe, if she doesn't like you then that's her problem. That won't keep me from spending time with you." he tried to comfort Nico, but nothing seemed to be helping. "How about this, before we go back to the dorms we'll stop by that chocolate shop you love and grab something if things don't go well."

"You must be confident that your mother will like me, you're bribing me with sweets." Nico smiled weaving her fingers through his, "You got yourself a deal, so you better hope that she likes me."

"Well we'll find out soon enough," Bakugo pulled them to a stop in front of his parents' home. "You still get a chance to turn back, I can always make up some kind of excuse." he offered, but Nico shook her head.

"I can't let something this normal scare me, what kind of hero would I be if I ran now?" she rolled her shoulders and held her head high. "I think I might be going to the chocolate shop anyways, I'm going to need one hell of a reward for surviving this."

Nico felt her ears flicked around under the hat as she heard someone coming up behind them, "I thought that was you Katsuki, you're earlier than you said you would be." they turned to see a woman with ash blonde hair coming up to them.

"You must be Katsuki's sister, I'm happy to meet you." Nico fumbled with her words. "But he didn't tell me that he had any siblings." she couldn't figure out why Bakugo wouldn't tell her something like that.

"Awe, you're too sweet. I wouldn't have thought my idiot son could possibly find anyone like you, he's not threatening you is he?" the woman laughed as Bakugo glared at her.

"Oi old hag what's that supposed to mean? You make it sound like she's too good for me." he snapped as Nico watched them in disbelief.

"That is no way to talk to me you brat," she snapped back, "I know I raised you better than that."

_Oh my whoa, alright so now I see where his temper comes from._ Nico thought as she watched their argument. _It's almost like their the same person._ "It seems my son has neglected his manners. I'm Mitsuki, Katsuki's mother."

"I'm Nicole Gatta." She offered Mitsuki her hand, "Thank you for having me today." she tried to keep her tail from puffing out as she panicked.

"You are too precious, it's my pleasure. It's not often that Katsuki bring friends home, much less pretty girls." Mitsuki was having fun tormenting her son. "You must really be something special."

"No ma'am, nothing special about me. I'm just a regular old house cat." Nico realized what she had said when Bakugo choked back a laugh, "Girl, I mean girl. Clearly I'm not a cat." _Not right now, but I'm getting really close to shifting and running home._ She felt her face burning from embarrassment.

"That's a new one, never heard someone call themselves a cat before." Mitsuki laughed a little more, "If you screw this up, I'm going to adopt her myself."

Bakugo and Nico followed Mitsuki in, "I blame you for that, always call me a house cat." Nico hissed at him, "Now she has to think I'm some kind of loon."

"You do have you moments, but it's not my fault you think of yourself more as a cat." he tipped her hat back, almost knocking it off. "But I don't really mind, I think that side of you is pretty cute."

"You're never going to let me live this down." she groaned, pulling her hat down farther. "The only thing that could possibly make this any worse is if I actually shift."

"I just wish I had gotten that fumble on video, that way the guys would believe me when we get back." Bakugo smiled as he closed the door, "You know the hat has to come off now."

Nico gripped the fabric tighter and shook her head. "Not going to happen, it's bad enough I just called myself a cat but I can't let her see my ears."

"It's clear that she likes you, so there's no need to be freaked out." he held out his for the hat as she reluctantly gave it to him. "There you go, see the world isn't ending."

"I knew I should have worn a bow instead of the hat." Nico flattened her ears down, trying to blend them into her hair. "Is it too late to turn and run?"

"You're stuck with us now, come on sounds like ma is making up lunch, let's see if she needs any help." Bakugo took her hand and led her to the kitchen.

"Katsuki get over here and give me a hand," Mitsuki waved him over, "Nicole dear, why don't you tell me more about yourself and just how my son managed to catch your eye." she patted a stool near the counter for Nico. "There has to be a good story behind it given how much of a brat he can be."

"There's not much to tell, we've been on the same team for our class competition since april so we've been spending a lot of time together." Nico said, fidgeting under Mitsuki's watch. "But I think he's been taken with me since I beat him on the first day." She wanted to get him back for teasing her so much.

"You did, now that's a story I'd like to hear." Mitsuki pulled up a seat, "Please indulge me."

Nico started telling her what had happened to lead up to their fight and how she had won, excluding a few details here and there. What she hadn't realized was that as she relaxed while telling the story her ears lifted and her tail slipped out from under her shirt.

"I guess that tail of yours helps with your balance." Mitsuki noted as the tip of Nico's tail peeked over her shoulder.

"A little bit, but it mostly gets in the way when I'm not paying attention." she answered, "Wait how'd you know about my tail?"

Mitsuki pointed as Nico's tail dropped onto her shoulder. "Just a wild guess, now the house cat comment makes a little more sense now. And your ears are so cute, why did you hide them?"

"I guess I've gotten used to hiding them around new people. It took forever for me to show them to everyone in the dorm but that wasn't really my idea." Nico's ear shifted toward Bakugo when he muttered something.

"Why doesn't that surprise me. But you should be proud of them, they are a part of you." Mitsuki looked over to her son, "And you, picking a fight on the first day of school with a new classmate too. What are we going to do with you?"

"Back off, she started it." Bakugo snapped. "And I plan on winning the next round, just you wait and see."

Nico laughed, "Please maybe you should work on you comedy routine, never in a hundred years could you ever take me." she noticed Mitsuki grinning at her.

"You just got lucky because I was distracted, next time you won't get the drop on me." Bakugo said, realizing his mother had left him to do all the cooking. "Hey how'd I get suckered into cooking?"

"Because you love your mother and I was getting to know Nicole." Mitsuki wave Bakugo off, "I mean you do plan on spending more time together so I figured that I should know as much as I can."

Before he could say anything their phones went off, "It's Kiri, they've made the final selections for the team competition." Nico said as they both looked at the message, "Two teams from each class, so it's going to be us and Todoroki with Momo from our class." she scanned the rest of the message.

"We've got one week to get together everything we're going to need, think you and support class chick can pull it off?" he asked, knowing the answer already.

"Do you doubt my awesome skills that much? Working with Mei, we'll have everything ready in two days." Nico was more than confident that was more than enough time. "I'm more worried about our tactics, Momo and Todoroki will be able to take our plans apart if we're not careful."

"Between you and Deku, I think we'll be fine. It doesn't seem to say much about what we'll be doing other that well be in Ground Beta for the final round." Bakugo could see her running through everything they've used up until now. "We have a week, just relax for now. We got this."

They spent the rest of the time telling Mitsuki all about their battles with the teachers and Nick. It helped Nico come up with better battle plans and improved gadgets they could use, she and Mei were going to be pulling a lot of hours in the workshop to everything finished in time.


	18. Battle of the classes

18 - Battle of the classes

Just as Nico thought, she and Mei took two whole days to get all the gear she wanted made, she even put in a few upgrades to her own tech so they wouldn't have to have their cuffs. It had taken her a little longer than she expected so she work up until the last minute to make sure that everything we prefect.

Finally the day of the final round of team battles was on them. With the top two teams from each class had been selected to compete against each other and only one team was going to be announced as the victors and given the option of selecting where they would be going on their trip.

"You guys ready for this?" Nico asked as she waited for them to finish changing.

"Don't you know babe." Bakugo came out first, raising an eyebrow at what she was wearing. "I thought we were past hiding under huge sweaters."

"This is what my costume is while I'm here, when I'm not a cat that is." she looked down at her oversized hoodie, "I worked with a designer closely to make it a little more durable that the one you smashed." she did pull down the hood and kissed him. "For luck, not that we need it." she fixed the glasses that sat on her nose.

"We're going to kick so much ass today that you'll get you trip." he gave her one last kiss before Izuku joined them.

"I've come up with replacement tech for the cuffs." Nico held out a little discs to them. "It'll allow me to keep track of you if we get separated. I already tagged Momo and Todoroki so all that's left is the other classes."

Bakugo took the disc and put it in a place he was sure that wouldn't get in the way. "How'd you know that we need to take them off?" he asked as Izuku did the same.

"I just had a feeling. I've also been studying past encounters with each person and how their quirk could affect my tech." she held her palm up and a map of the area come up. "Green is us, blue is our classmates and red will be everyone else. Once they go down and are inactive for more than two minutes the tracker will drop off of the map." she explained quickly before they were to join the rest. "I'll do my best to stay out of my cat, but I will shift if the need comes up. You guys are the muscle for this and I'll do my best to be the tactician we need."

"What's with the eyewear?" Bakugo asked as she adjusted her glasses again. "I thought your eyesight was perfect."

"And it is, these are a display screen. I can track the movements of everyone without having to stop." Nico took them off so he could see for himself, "If I had more time I would have made two more sets, problem is I can't get them to stay where I want them to. I think I spent too much time working with Mei on everything else so I didn't get to perfect them."

"Did you try bending them a little to fit your face better?" Izuku offered as the walked to the training ground. "Maybe that's all it could need."

"I'd have to be careful of the computer components, but that may just work." she placed the glasses back on her nose and gently bent them down. "I'll have to do for now, let's hope that this test run goes smoothly." she slipped her hand into Bakugo's to steady her nerves.

"We're more than ready, you can count on us no matter what they throw at us." Bakugo gave her hand a little squeeze before they entered the waiting area that had been put together for students.

They happened to be the last ones to arrive so it made it easier for Nico to stealthily slip her trackers onto the other teams. Just as she tagged the last person Aizawa came in to give out their instructions. "Alright since you're the top of your classes, so we decided to put you up against not only each other but the teachers as well." he got their attention as he made with way to the front of the crowd to stand next to a box on a low table. "As you already know it's until there's one team left standing, so I won't have to go too many rules. Any gear you've brought with you is allowed and any tactics your team has come up with as well. Go until your opponent is unable to continue or surrenders, and the teachers can disqualify anyone they see if."

"There are spectators from different organizations looking for new prospects to consider. Show them your best and prove that you are the best UA has to offer." Aizawa put a hand on the box, "Each team will pick on person to draw lots and that will be the order you enter with a three minute intervel in between."

Whispers spread through the crowd, "We've got the upper hand on matter when we get to go in." Bakugo seemed overly confident while both Nico and Izuku ran over every situation they could come with. "You two are being quiet, now you got me worried."

"I didn't think we'd be going you against teachers too, I didn't prepare for that. And I also noticed that each team had at least one teacher they didn't fight." Nico started chewing on her thumb nail, "This isn't good because we never got to fight Aizawa or Present Mic, both of them can easily put me out of commision and I don't like the odds that we might see them today."

"And we can't be sure which teachers are going to be out there, do you have any of the trackers left?" Izuku asked as Nico shook her head.

"I only made enough for the other students, got get our number and let me think." she told Izuku, pointing at the box. "This really isn't good if we end up pulling a low number, the higher the number the more time I have to think of something."

"We've got enough tricks to catch anyone off guard, I watched you with the support chick and you two did an amazing job stocking up." Bakugo ran a hand over her arm. "You're great at thinking on your feet, we'll be fine." he reassured her as Izuku came back

"We're last, is that more than enough time?" he asked as the last few teams went and got their numbers.

"Plenty, I need to find a spot where we can plan in peace." she looked around the tent, "I would assume we're not allowed to leave now that we're here until it's our turn. I've got about thirty minutes to come up with plans if we run into either Mic or Aizawa." she set a countdown timer once the first team left.

By the time it was their turn to enter the training grounds, there was only one team from the general studies department, one of the class 2-B teams and their classmates left. "Six teams down, looks like the B team is going up against GE. If we get lucky they'll take each other out." Nico studied her map as they ran. "At least one of you has fought against Todoroki so you know how to handle him, I'll take care of Momo."

The guys nodded, it was the best plan they had to handle their friends and classmates. "Can you tell who's left?" Bakugo asked as Nico skidded to a stop.

"I can only see the B team, it looks like the quirk stealer Monoma and Tetsutetsu made this far. I want to get closer, that way I can see the threat level for myself." she did a quick scan of the area, "This way, if we use the buildings for cover we shouldn't be seen."

They found their way up to the third floor of the first building they came to, and found the best place to watch from. "It looks like there's only one of the GE students left, and of course it would be the one I couldn't find anything on." Nico watched as the boy with indigo colour hair side stepped a charging Tetsutetsu.

"I kind of fought him in last year's sports festival. That's Shinso, he got a mind control quirk that lets him control anyone who verbally respond to him." Izuku explained.

"Right, so it's a good thing we don't always rely on verbal communication." Nico chewed her lip a little as she thought. "If he takes out B team, we can get the drop on him from here and …" she didn't get to finish her thought as she dropped to her knees gasping in pain.

"Clever and while the three of you wait why don't I see what you're made of." Aizawa came into view, "I should have known Gatta tagged the other students, but let's see how well you fight with her life on the line."

When the guys didn't move, Nico had to spell it out for them. "Make him blink. While he's looking at me I can't do much, it hurts too much." she managed to pant out, it felt like her whole body was on fire.

"I'd say she got about five minutes before passing out, after that the three of you will be disqualified." Aizawa took a couple steps closer as the boys flanked Nico.

_We just need a smoke screen. _Nico managed to reach into her hoodie pocket, but was quickly caught up in Aizawa's binding cloth. "Nice try, but I know all about you little tricks. Now behave and watch." he bound her in place.

Nico noticed that Bakugo wasn't moving, "Stop worrying about me, just get him to blink and I can get away." she snapped, "Work together with Izu and I'll be fine."

That was all it took to get them moving, trying to get their teacher to break his gaze but he just dodged everything they threw at him. "Guys, I don't have much time left." Nico panted out, "I know you two have been working on something, just use it already."

With a nod to each other, Bakugo used a small controlled blast to propelle Izuku forward. As their teacher backed up a few steps to avoid Izuku's kick, Bakugo used the opening to get in his face, freeing Nico from the erasure quirk.

Not waiting for a moment, she shifted into her cat and got lose of the binding cloth. "Just give me a minute to recover and I'll join you guys." she called from a safe hiding spot, "I just gotta get my breath and I'll be good to go again."

"Take your time, we got him." Bakugo called back as Nico studied her surroundings while she rested, noticing the beams overhead would be the safest place to get her revenge on Aizawa from. Carefully making her way up, Nico positioned herself just above the fight.

First she dropped one of the smoke screens, that way she could slip down and lay her trap unseen. "Guys, to the windows. I can take it from here." they didn't wait for more than that and took off out of the smoke. "As for you, Aizawa, that wasn't very nice what you did to me. I take it you've gone up against a Gatta before." she didn't stay in one place too long, just in case the smoke cleared before she was finished.

"You could say that. She was just as tough as you are and just as clever too." Aizawa admitted, "So what trick do you have up your sleeve to get yourself out of this one." he followed her voice until the smoke finally cleared.

"I wouldn't make any sudden movements if I were you, look around." Nico called from the rafters, she had laid little pyramids of paper all around his feet. "The are motion sensitive and the slightest jostle will set them off. Do you surrender?" she demanded.

"Yeah, you got me." Aizawa looked up at her with a grin, "Your aunt taught you well."

"I know." she jumped down, landing hard on the floor setting off her glitter bombs. "And she also taught me to never hold a grudge, just get even. Have fun explaining why you look like a first grader's art project."

Taking her place in between the boys, Nico smiled at the frightened looks they were giving her. "Kacchan, your girlfriend scares me. Please don't ever piss her off." Izuku pleaded with Bakugo.

"I don't think I would ever be that stupid." he answered, "so who's left?" he could see Nico's map did have many markers left.

"Looks like Momo and Todoroki finished off whoever the winner was from the B team and Shinso fight so it's a battle between us and them." she pointed to the two blue markers, "They don't seem to be far off either, we could get the drop on them."

"Then what the hell are we waiting for." Bakugo took a few steps back and charged the window.

"You psycho," Nico shouted after him, "He's going to be the death of me, mind giving me a lift? I'm still not right after having my cat attacked like that." She asked Izuku before turning into her cat form and climbing onto his shoulder.

They only caught up to him when came to an intersection, "Alright house cat, which way now?" he asked as Nico tested the air.

It didn't take her long to pick up the scent of her friend and took off running leading the boys. Shifting as they rounded a corner, "This is where we part ways, Todoroki is that way." she pointed down an alley, "but be careful of traps, we can't be sure of what they have planned." she warned them before heading down the street that had Momo's scent.

"Watch your back too," Bakugo gave her one last look as she waved back at them. "Don't forget we're going out to celebrate tomorrow, so try staying in one piece."

It didn't take her long to find Momo, there hadn't been any traps along the path. "Momo, I can track you wherever you go, just come out." Nico called as she got closer. "It's just you and me while the boys fight it out."

"I'm sorry Nico, but I won't hold back." Momo said as she tried to get the drop on Nico. "I know you'll go all out so I won't have to worry about holding back."

"Good because it wouldn't feel like a real win if you did. I unfortunately can't afford to let you win, I have somewhere I need to go." Nico said as she danced away Momo's attacks.

While the girls traded blows for a while, Nico felt the ground shake a little. "Right, I'm sorry about this but I can't keep playing with you." she managed to slip behind Momo and hit a few pressure points, knocking her out. "I'll make this up to you, I promise." she made sure that her friend was in a safe spot before taking off.

Skidding to a stop Nico barely missed getting hit with a blast of fire, seeing that Bakugo and Izuku had Shoto completely distracted it gave her a chance to slip in close and catch him off guard.

"You're the last one standing, don't make this harder than it has to be." she used her stealth to her advantage and knocked him to his knees. "I know your father is watching so you need to make the show a good one, I'm in the same boat with my grandfather. You and me, let's make it look real." she whispered before signaling to her teammates to stand down.

"Worried that if you get help from them it might affect the deal between our families?" Shoto asked getting to his feet.

Nico started to circle him, Shoto followed her watching her every movement. "Nope, I need my family to know I'm not a failure as a warrior, that I have power all my own. You understand that more than they do."

"Clearly you and I are a lot a like. I can respect that, fine, have it your way." he let his fire flare, "But I can't hold back, I would assume the same for you."

"I wouldn't want anything less than your best." they surged forward at each other and at the moment they would have made contact, Nico shifted, leaving her outer layer of clothes behind. She was now barefoot in tight shorts and a tank top.

Slipping under Shoto, she quickly shifted and back landed a kick to his back. While her teammates watched on, Bakugo could see the same feral look on Nico's face that she had when she was scrapping with Nina but this time it didn't seem as primal.

Nico danced away from all of Shoto's attacks while he simply ducked or sidestepped. "I guess the Gatta train for combat from a young age, not many can keep me at bay like this."

"You flatter me, but I'm not giving you an inch. I need this trip." she countered his latest barrage, "I'm done toying with you, it's been a long day and I want to get some sleep."

She took the opening that she had made and slipped behind him, locking his arms above his head. "Submit." she hissed as she felt something burn her left arm. "I said submit." she tightened her hold, not letting despite the pain.

"Fine, I surrender." he relaxed, knowing she wasn't going to let up. "Let me see you arm, that burn has to hurt." Nico dropped him and went to collect her clothes.

"Leave it, I'll heal on my own." she pulled a case from pants and put the glasses away. "You fought well, you should be proud of yourself." she snapped the case closed as they were joined by some of the spectators.

"Nicole." an elderly man snapped her name, making her drop her clothes and cross her hands behind her back. "Care to explain yourself, why show mercy to one that is clearly defeated."

"A moment of weakness, sir. I will not allow it to happen again." she answered without a moment of hesitation. Her eyes trained straight ahead not focusing on anything.

"See that it does not." he watched her as she fought against the pain in her arm. "Are those tears of pain?"

"No sir, just some dust in my eyes." she blinked a couple times trying to clear her eyes. "I hope that actions today did not affect our dealings with the Todoroki family."

"Actually your showing today helped a great deal, so I should be thanking you." the old man dismissed her as he turned to leave, "We will be having a proper family meeting in a month's time, you are expected there."

"Yes sir." was all she said as he left. Nico didn't move until she was sure he wasn't watching anymore.

"Who the hell was that?" Bakugo asked as made his way over to her.

"That was my grandfather, uncle Nick had warned me that he was coming today so it wouldn't be a shock." she bent down to gather her belongings again. "Wonderful old man, isn't he."

"He didn't really seem to care that you were hurt, let me see." he gently took her arm and looked it over. "It's not too bad, might not scar."

"But the important thing is we won." she finally managed a smile. "I hope you got swim gear, because we're going to Okinawa."


	19. Is that a tattoo?

19 - Is that a tattoo?

After getting her arm treated, Nico talked her ideas over with the teachers. She had called a favour from one of her family members that liked her and got the entire second year a free place to stay.

"How did you pull this one off? This place is huge." Izuku looked up at the five story hotel. "There's no way the school has enough money to book enough rooms for everyone."

"The owner is a distant cousin, she happens to be a bit of a black sheep like me so we get along." Nico smiled at herself, "Last time I was here I help her out of a bind and she promised to give me and my friends a free stay next time I came."

"So you happen to have two hundred friends now?" Bakugo asked, "House cat, I think you're stretching the truth on this one." he draped an arm over her shoulders, pulling her close.

She elbowed him in the ribs, "I told Sakura that the school was looking for a place for the class trip and she said since it was more than happy to open the place up for us." Nico picked up her bag and head for the lobby, "Come on guys, I promised that I would introduce my teammates first."

Nico and the boys didn't even make it halfway to the reception desk before she was intercepted by a woman with short brown hair. Both Izuku and Bakugo noticed that she didn't have the golden Gatta eyes or any feline features that the rest of the Gattas they have met.

"Nicole Diana, it has been too long." it sounded like she was scolding Nico but she had a huge smile on her face. "And you show up with boys too, you're growing up too fast."

Nico laughed as she threw her arms around the woman. "I don't mean to stay away, but you know how grandfather is. How have you been? The hotel looks better than last time I was here."

"Your grandfather is a hard man to deal with," the woman said, noticing Nico's ears and tail. "Wait a minute, you're not hiding yourself. When did you start walking around with your tail out."

Letting go, Nico turned and gestured to the boys. "I have these two to thank for my new confidence. Sakura I would like you to meet Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo, the teammates that helped me get here."

"Well now, it seems I should have put the blonde in the room close to yours." Sakura noted as Bakugo looked a little confused.

"She's an empath, so she can read emotions." Nico explained, "And we can trust her not to tell the family about us." she had told Bakugo that outside of her aunt and uncle that none of her family should ever find out that they were together.

"But just a warning, I heard that Nagisa and Nori might come through some time in the next few weeks, so be careful about how affectionate the pair of you get." Sakura warned them as she produced three key cards, "Now Nico dear, you get your favourite room all to yourself and it seems that he's a few doors down from you." Nico smiled as she took the card.

"Thanks a lot Sakura, I guess we'll have to have dinner one night while we're here." she offered as the woman smiled back.

"I would like that a lot. Now go on since I have more rooms to get settled." she shooed them on their way.

Once they settled into their rooms, Nico went and found her friends. "So we get two whole weeks to enjoy the beaches with no actual school work, this is going to be great." she hung over the back of the couch next to Momo. "Does this make up for my rough treatment?" she still felt bad about their fight.

"You don't need to feel bad, it was a fair fight. But you need to teach me how you did that." Momo said giving Nico a side hug.

"I'd love to," she let out an undignified meow as Bakugo grabbed her from behind. "Katsuki, could you not do that. You scared me."

"But you make it too easy." he kissed the top of her head, "So now that you finally got you vacation, what was the reason it was so important."

"I have someone I need to visit." Nico could feel everyone in the room look at her, "Don't look at me like that, they raised my father so they're basically family."

"So it's good you guys won then." Ochaco said as Nico managed to free herself from Bakugo and dropped down next to her. "But why not come on your own when you get the chance." Bakugo preached himself on the arm so she could lean on him a little.

None of her classmates got to witness how her grandfather treated her outside of the ones that had been their, so they didn't know what it was like for her. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Nico changed the subject and most of those gathered started to make plans for one activity or another. But Ochaco and Momo could see that it was just an avoidance, and they would be cornering her later on and getting the truth.

"Do you even like the beach?" Kirishima asked bluntly, catching Nico's attention. "I mean most cats tend not to like water, so outside of wanting to see your family why'd you want to come here."

Nico gave him a flat look, "Really? You're going to the assumption that because I have feline traits that I have some aversion to water." she could feel Bakugo shaking with laughter beside her. "You and me, tomorrow I'm going to show you how I feel about water."

"Now you're talking, a whole day of beach game competitions." Kirishima whooped as the rest of them laughed.

"I'm going to call it an early night then. I don't want the idiot squad beating me because I'm tired." Nico pushed herself up, "I'll see you guys in the morning." she waved to them before retreating to her room for the night.

"Everything alright? You've been acting a little off since you guys won the competition." Ochaco asked as she and Momo caught up with her in the hall.

"Just family stuff. I'm sorry for bringing the mood down." she waited for them to fall instep with her. "My grandfather was there and I guess I didn't live up to his expectations." she rubbed the small scar on her arm. "I should have gotten my hopes up on him actually being proud of me, but I couldn't help it."

"You guys did so well, Deku told us what happened to Aizawa and the glitter. Why wouldn't he be proud of you?" Momo asked as Nico flattened her ears down.

"Because of what happened with my mama. They had a bit of a falling out and grandfather still hasn't gotten over it." her friends caught her off guard when they both hugged her. "Come on you guys, you keep this up I'm going to start crying." she managed to giggle a little as they continued to walk to her room.

"We've just been a little worried, it's not like you to be distant with us for no reason." Ochaco linked arms with Nico, "I think one of the nights we're here all us girls pile into one room and stay up all night."

"I think that would be great. I think that's long overdue." Nico agreed, "We just need to get Midnight to agree and we're golden."

"I don't think she'd have a problem with it, if anything she might just come and join us." Momo said as they stopped at Nico's room. "Are you sure that everything is alright? You know you can talk to us if you need to." her concern made Nico smile a little.

"I'll be fine. It does make me feel better knowing I have such great friends." she opened her room, "I'll see you guys in the morning so we can kick the boys collective ass at the beach." she waved to them before turning in for the night.

"How you holding up?" Bakugo asked, spooking Nico as she locked the door. "I noticed that you got a little quiet before Kiri made an ass of himself." she turned to see him sitting on the bed, waiting for her.

"What the hell are you doing in, better yet how'd you get in here? The door was locked." she looked at him, she hadn't taken that long to get back here.

"You forgot to lock the sliding door." he pointed to the balcony, "Is what happened with the old man still bugging you, or is it that we might run into that prick while we're here?"

"Wow everyone is on my case tonight. Have I been acting differently lately?" she snipped. "What's next Izu's going to come popping out of the washroom? I don't need everyone looking after me."

"No, but we care and it's clear that you're upset over something." he went over to her and wrapped her up in a hug. "You don't have to say anything, but you shouldn't keep things bottled up. You'll only make yourself miserable."

"I just wanted to have a small vacation without having to look over my shoulder waiting for one of them to show up." she buried her face into his chest. "I was looking forward to have a walk with you and not be on guard."

"Then that's what we'll do." he started running his fingers through her hair. "We got two weeks here, you can relax and just be yourself, just forget about them and enjoy. You should have heard the way Kiri was making plans after you left, he actually thinks he's going to win against you."

"Yeah, well us girls plan on wiping the sand with you guys tomorrow." Nico melted a little more, "I wish you could stay the night, but if you're not in your room when Aizawa does a bed check, I'll be the one covered in glitter."

Bakugo laughed a little, "I would honestly like to see him try that. I can just imagine him on a roof with a huge bucket waiting for you to walk past."

"What is he four now?" she rolled her eyes, smiling up at him. "You should go now, I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I'll come back later then, I just don't want to leave you like this." he was reluctant to leave, "I don't like the idea of you being here all alone, angry at nothing and everything."

"Kind of sounds like someone I already know." Nico laughed and he glared at her. "I'll be fine now, I promise, so you don't have to worry."

"I'm still going to come back to check on you, I know that you get yourself stressed when it comes to your family." Bakugo watched as her ears flicked towards the door, "I guess that means someone's coming, just leave the sliding door unlocked."

"Just go before someone catches you." she shoved him out the room, "I'll see you in the morning. If it makes you feel better I promise to come and find you if I get lonely." Nico gave him a half hearted smile.

"Alright house cat." he ruffled her hair, "I'm just down the hall if you really need me, so don't worry about those pricks, nobody can spoil our time here."

"So we all know just how fast you can be while on land, but let's how well you can swim." Kirishima said as he and Nico stood at the edge of the water.

"A whole hell lot faster than a rock, but how about this if you actually beat me I'll answer one question honestly and without sidestepping." she offered pulling her overshirt off revealing a jet black bikini top.

What she had completely forgotten about was the cat shaped birthmark on her ribs, "What the hell is that?" Bakugo asked as he caught Nico's shirt.

Nico looked down at herself, "I would have thought you knew what a bikini was." she gave him a confused look as she pulled her hair into a ponytail."I can't wear a one piece because of my tail, so I have to settle for this."

"Not that, on your side. Is that a tattoo?" he poked her in the ribs. "Another one of the Gattas strange traditions?"

Nico could see that even Kirishima was curious, "Well if Kiri beats me in our race, maybe I'll tell you guys." she laughed as stepped closer to the water. "You coming or what?"

"Bakugo, you are one lucky dude and I hate you so much right now." Kirishima joined her at water, "No going easy on me just because we're friends."

"Please I don't go easy on my friends, I push them harder." she smiled as Ochaco counted them down.

They both took off once Ochaco gave them the signal, Nico was surprised the Kirishima was keeping up with her. _I guess I need to add swimming to my regitamate when I get home. I bet I could get a few of the others to join me._ Nico thought as Kirishima pulled ahead of her.

"Come on Nico," some of the girls cheered from the beach. "You can't let him win." hearing her friends spurred her on to go faster. She managed to get to the buoy they had picked as their turn around point and kicked off with all her might.

Kirishima kept pace with her almost the entire way back, but Nico started to run out of steam a few feet from the finish line. "Holy shit that was close." Nico panted as she flopped onto her back, no caring if sand got caught in the fur on her tail. "You hiding gills on us or something?"

"Naw, just could let you win so easily." Kirishima held a hand out for her, "So you're sporting some ink?"

Nico laughed as he pulled her up, "No, it's a birthmark. All of who have a beast form in the family has one that is a mirror of what they look like." she explained shaking the sand and water from her tail. "Not everyone has the features I do, some don't have any while others are more cat like."

"So you guys come in all the flavours of the rainbow, I'd love to see what a gathering look like." Kirishima laughed as Izuku waved them over.

"No you wouldn't, many of the elders are against outsiders knowing any of our secrets so I'd be in really hot water if they ever found out what I've told you guys." Nico said as they went to join the group. She crept up behind Bakugo, making sure he didn't know she was there then pounced on his back. "Looks like the mighty huntress caught her prey." she giggled wrapping her legs around waist.

"Jeez woman, you almost took me out. A little warning next time " he grabbed her knee as he steadied them.

"I wouldn't be a very good hunter if my prey knew I was coming." She smiled. "Now come on, smile for the camera. I want you to look good for the picture." Nico pointed to Izuku as he fought to set up a camera, "This is one memory I never want to forget."

"Just this once and only for you." he that is meant a lot to her so he didn't argue.


	20. Now everyone will know you're mine

20 - Now everyone will know you're mine.

They spent the rest of the day enjoying their time at the beach, unaware that Nico's cousins had arrived and had been watching them. They waited until Nico was on her own before making their presence known.

"Well look at you, it almost looks like you're happy with them." Nagisa commented as they cornered her in the hallway to her room. "It's almost like you forgot about us."

"No matter how hard I try, you'd never let me forget about you." Nico spat at him, "I thought you were here to check on the hotel, so you've also taken to spying as well?"

"We're just keeping an eye on our little cousin," Nori said, barely masking his malicious tone with a smile. "It's been a couple of months since we saw each other last, I just wanted to see who's responsible for stealing all your time."

"No, you wanted to get black mail material so you could use my friends against me next time you want me to do something." Nico knew how they worked, "So I assume you managed to get something or else you wouldn't have made yourself known." she crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall.

"You wound us, all we wanted to do was say hello since we're here at the same time." Nagisa fainted being hurt, "I was hoping that you would join us for the inspection while we're here, as you happen to know the place so well."

"And if I say no?" she asked, waiting for the threat to come.

"Well I wouldn't say that grandfather might get word that you seem to be getting a little too friendly with that blonde kid, but you never know what could come up when I tell him of our time here." Nagisa looked over to Nori, "We only plan on being here for a couple of days, I don't think your friends would even notice."

"Fine as long it's only a few days and you get permission from my teachers first." she pushed past them, "Meet me in the lobby first thing and I'll give you a tour. It's been a long day and I would like to get the sand out of my hair."

"Sleep tight little cousin, see you in the morning." Nagisa called after her as she slammed the door shut.

She debated which was more important, letting Bakugo know that Nagisa had shown up or getting the sand and sea water off of her. _It'll be easier to focus on talking once I've cleaned up._ She decided on a quick shower before messaging, so she could fall asleep once she was ready.

Wrapping her hair up in a towel, Nico picked up her phone. "Nagisa and Nori actually showed, I'm going to be showing them around the next few days." she said as she typed. "I'm not going to be able to spend time with you guys while I'm busy with them, sorry."

It didn't take him long to message her back. _They didn't bully you into it, did they? I can blow them into next year if they did anything to make you agree to that._

Nico smiled a little. "No, I didn't let Nagisa bully me." she lied, it was easier for her to convince him when he couldn't see her. "I just want them gone and it was the fastest way to do it. The sooner they leave the sooner I can get back to having fun with you."

No sooner than she dropped the phone to the bed, there was a knock on the door. "Wow you couldn't let me finish writing out my message." Nico laughed as she opened the door to see Sakura there with a suitcase.

"Nagisa asked me to bring this to you, said it was important that you look the part of a Gatta from the main house while showing him around." she explained, "I know it's not the ideal situation and I'm sorry you have to put up with him."

"It's fine, I'll endure it because I don't want to put targets on any of my friends." Nico sighed as she rolled the case past her. "And if it keeps their eyes off of Katsuki, I'll just grit and bear it. Thanks for putting up with them, I'll try to take care of most of their demands so they don't keep pestering you."

"Don't go out of your way, I would think you would want to spend as little time with Nagisa as possible." Sakura gave her a sympathetic look, "but it would be a great help. I'll make sure that you have a keycard that will get you to all the different areas they may want to see."

"What is family for if not to look out for each other." Nico gave her a small smile as her phone chimed. "That's going to be Katsuki, I'll see you in the morning." she waved as Sakura left her to see what Bakugo had sent and to look through the case.

_I thought I told you not to lie to me, just don't let them walk all over you. I'll be over to check on you after Aizawa comes by._ There was no stopping him and Nico knew it.

"Fine, but if you get caught I didn't know you were coming." she laughed, turning her attention to the case _Now I have a feeling what he's planned, but knowing him it's going to be lavish to make me feel out of place._

Popping open the case she found everything she needed for the kimonos Nagisa provided. "Asshole, of course he would make my life hell." She cursed as a light tapping came from the balcony. "Crap, can't let anyone see this." she quickly shut the case and stashed it under the bed.

"Come on house cat, any longer and I'm going to get spotted." Bakugo tapped on the door again.

"Sorry, I was just finishing up with my tail. There was so much sand in my fur you wouldn't believe." she bent the truth a little. "You know you don't have to worry about me, I can handle Nagisa and Nori on my own."

"Is that what you call getting cornered in the hall? Because if that's your best, you're in serious trouble." Bakugo smirked as he pulled her close. "I know that you only agreed to take them around to protect us, which you don't have to do."

"Not everyone, just you. Nagisa threatened to tell grandfather about how close we are, it's not for him to tell." she answered, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm going to put up with them for a couple of days and then I'll be able to spend the rest of the time with you." she loved it when he rested his chin between her ears. "I was wondering if you wanted to come see Granny and Gramps Evergreen with me? I know it wouldn't make up for all the time I'm going to be chained to Nagisa but I think you'd like them."

"Only if you want me there, I know you can't come and go as you want so if you wanted to see them on your own I wouldn't mind."

"Are you kidding me, if I didn't bring you with me then I would have a new set of problems. I'd love to show you off to them, they took care of my father when he was younger, what no one really knows is that they happened to be papa's aunt and uncle." she knew that very few people knew the truth, "Not even Nick and Nina know, so it has been a while since I have been able to see them."

"Alright, you twisted my arm." he smiled, "but are you really going to be alright with those two on your own?" Bakugo became serious as he held Nico out by her shoulders.

"Please, I'm going to be a glorified tour guide until they leave. What's the worst that can happen?" she was confident that nothing could go wrong. "I'll message you at night once I'm alone." Nico placed her hands over his, trying to get him to relax a little.

"Call if you need anything and I'll be here in a heartbeat." Bakugo sighed, smiling a little. "So what are the Evergreens like, I hope they're not like the rest of your family."

"Not even, I wouldn't want you to meet them if they were." she went to sit on the bed, "If I had my way I would have stayed with them, but I ended up with uncle Nick and auntie which is fine enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that they took me in but I think mama wanted me raised away from the main house."

Joining her on the bed, Bakugo flopped onto his back. "So why not say anything about the other relatives if that was the case?"

"Can't be sure, but all I know is grandfather made it clear that I was to come live at the Gatta estate. I think he was upset about what had happened and he didn't really know how to react." Nico leaned back against the headboard, "I don't think he's hard on me because of what mama and papa, I think he misses her and it's the only way he knows how to express his emotions."

"That doesn't make any sense and it doesn't explain why your cousins hate you so much." he tried to see things her way, but it seemed a little backwards to him.

"That's an easy one, they copied the old man." Nico pointed out. "Nori is only following Nagisa's lead and he picked up on the harshness from grandfather."

"So what was with that case the manager dropped off?" Bakugo changed the subject, seeing that Nico was getting quiet. "You looked like you wanted to kill someone."

"What are you, some kind of stalker now?" she laughed, lightly kicking him in the ribs. "If you must know, Nagisa sent something to wear while I'm showing them around."

"Now this I got to see." he said dodging another kick. "Clearly you don't want anyone to see so it has to be bad."

"Not on your life. I'm warning you now I will hunt you down and end you if I even think you've got a picture of me." she shot him a glare as he grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her closer. "God only knows what a stalker like you would do with a picture of me." she could feel herself blushing as he leaned over her.

"I think I prefer the real thing." he leaned in and gave her a light bite on the neck.

"Katsuki," she half moaned, "we shouldn't be doing this, not here at least. It would be too easy for one of the teachers to catch us." as much as she wanted to keep going Nico knew any of the teachers could come by at any moment.

"Fine, but I'm making my territory so no one know to mess with you." he growled as he bit down a little harder, not enough to break the skin, just enough to know he'd end up leaving a mark.

"Your so mean," Nico whimpered a little, "That's going to be impossible to hide." she put her hand over the bitemark, her face bright red.

"That's the whole point," he smirked making his way back to the balcony. "I'll be waiting to see what your cousin picked out for you, and you know I'll be wanting to get a picture."

"Good luck with that." she threw a pillow at him as he just laughed. "I don't plan on letting pictures be taken of me."

Author's Ramblings: I want to apologize for the long wait, we've had a long going on the last few weeks so my progress has been super slow. Hopefully now that things have calmed down I can get back on track and take care of all the notes I have put on the side. I also want to thank everyone of the continued support and I hope that I can count on everyone to continue enjoying my story. Zenn


	21. Kind words

21 - Kind words

Looking at herself in the mirror as she got ready, Nico couldn't keep her eyes from drifting down to the angry red bite mark on her neck. _I am going to kill him next time I see him._ She thought, digging around in the makeup bag in front of her. _Damnit, I forgot to get a new concealer. Now what?_

Thinking for a moment, she came up with an idea. Grabbing the pale purple kimono from the bed, Nico hurried down the hall to find Momo and Ochaco, if they didn't have what she needed then there wouldn't be anyone who could help.

"Come on, be awake please." Nico knocked on the door of their room. She looked down both ends of the halls to make sure no one was going to sneak up on her.

"Nico, you're later than normal. Is everything alright?" Momo asked as she opened the door, letting Nico slip in.

"I came to see if you had anything to cover this up." she pointed to her neck, "and since I'm running late I don't have time to run back to my room and finish getting dressed." she explained the kimono in her arms.

"We should have something for that," Ochaco said as she looked over to see what was going on. "You got something fancy planned with Bakugo today?"

"No, I get the honor of being a tour guide for a couple of my cousins, one of which is next in line to be head of the family so I have to be nice to him." Nico sighed, dropping down next Ochaco. "I don't know how long they're going to be around for, so I'm going to be busy with them until they head back home."

"That sucks, you were looking forward to relaxing while we're here and now you have to work."

"Yeah well, I couldn't throw Sakura at them without offering my help." Nico watched as Momo came back with a makeup bag, "Please tell me you have my shade of pale, it's impossible to find anyone else with the same skin tone."

"You're in luck, I just happen to have one." Momo held up the stick, "Something possessed me to get it just before we left."

"Finally someone is looking out for me." Nico cheered, "Once I get this covered up can you two help me get dressed? It'll go faster with more hands."

"We'd love to." Ochaco smiled as Momo nodded. "So Bakugo left you with a little gift last night?"

"Who else would it have been, it's not like I let strangers into my room." the two watched as Nico turned a bright red as she fled into the washroom.

Once she was dressed and ready to go, Nico went and joined her cousins and gave them a massive tour of the building and most of the grounds. While taking them through the building, Nico could feel some of her friends watching them from close by and would often place herself between Nagisa and Nori or moving so she was mostly blocked by something to prevent any of them taking pictures of her.

"Sakura keeps up to date with all the techn needs of her guests, each of the conference rooms are equipped with overhead projectors that can connect with phones, computers and even tablets." Nico explained as she led Nagisa and Nori around.

She had already shown them to most of the other amenities that the hotel had to offer and she was quickly running low on things to show them. _At this rate they'll be gone in less than a day. Fuck yeah I'm good at this._ She started to praise herself, but she should have known that it was going too smoothly.

"Everything sounds amazing, it's a good thing we managed to get rooms for an entire week." Nagisa said as they walked through the lobby. "But I was curious about the beach houses I spotted when we drove up, are they part of the hotel as well?"

"They share the public beach but the houses are privately owned." that was all she answered with. "I would have thought grandfather would have allowed you the use of the one owned by the main house instead of having rooms in the hotel itself." Nico paused and fell into step between the large boys.

"He offered, but I wanted to see what the service was like first hand." Nagisa noted her behaviour. "Maybe you should introduce us to your friends, since we are all here together at the same time."

"I don't know about that, I mean don't the pair of you have better things to do than that?" Nico started to panic internally, doing her best not to let them see that they had backed her into another corner. "What would make my friends so interesting?"

"I don't know, I mean you plan on spending a lot of your time with them so I think we should make sure that they are a good influence on you." Nori chimed in, "It might even be a good idea to have ties to heroes outside of the family, ones we know we can trust."

"I will see what I can do, but so help me if you make a mockery of me I will hunt you down and rip out your eyes." she warned them as Nagisa sped up a step just in time for her to hear the sound of a picture being taken. Snapping her head around just in time to see Denki and Kirishima duck around the corner. "If you'll excuse me, I have something I must deal with. I'll call you when I have made plans with everyone."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, we took care of everything already. All you have to do is meet us down here bright and early tomorrow morning." Nori said as he and Nagisa left Nico to her hunt.

_Of course they did,_ Nico sighed as she tracked down her stalkers. "You two better have a good explanation for following me." she caught them by the backs of their shirts when they tried to run.

"Bakugo asked us to keep an eye on you, in case those two tried to pull something funny." Kirishima explained as quickly as he could.

"And there may have been a bounty out for a picture of you all dressed up." Denki added as Kirishima punched him in the arm.

"Phones, now." she dropped them and held out her hands. They handed them over without a second thought, they had heard how ruthless Nico could be and really didn't feel like testing her. "You are smart for not pushing your luck." she deleted the pictures they had managed to get.

"You're not going to kill us?" Denki asked as he caught his phone when she tossed it back.

"No, not today." Nico turned on her heel and started to walk away, before giving her final warning. "But I would sleep with one eye open for a while."

Bakugo had been waiting all day to get a message from anyone in the class that Nico was in trouble and needed back up, but no such message came across his phone, not even a picture that he had offered to pay for.

"Dude you have one pissed off girlfriend now." Kirishima said as he came into their room. "Denki went and opened his mouth and now she seems to be on a warpath."

"Should have known that's what you meant by 'you're dead'." Bakugo showed his terrified roommate the message. "I guess house cat deleted any pictures you got?"

"Yeah, but I didn't know that she sent a message from my phone. I didn't know she could get that scary." Kirishima flopped onto his bed. "I don't know if you heard but the whole class has been asked to meet in the lobby tomorrow morning."

"Yeah I heard, it seems Nico's cousins want to get to know us." Bakugo kept scrolling through his phone, "Not to sure about it, but might as well see what it is they really want."

As morning rolled around Bakugo was a little worried that Nico was really pissed with him since he didn't hear from her all night.

They gathered together in the lobby after breakfast, "I want to thank you all for coming," Nagisa greeted everyone. "I know this is your class trip and I appreciate all of you taking time out of your busy schedules."

"Nori, what is going on?" Nico whispered to him, "Why does everyone look like they're ready for a brawl?"

Without a second thought, Nagisa continued. "Now I know I said this was just a friendly competition, but really this is to see if any of you are really worthy of being close with our dear Nicole." Both Bakugo and Nico could see the quick glare Nagisa shot Bakugo's direction. "So those who still want to can stay but don't feel forced to stay."

No one moved, they had become a family by this point and none of them would turn their backs on one of their own. "Good to see all of you know the meaning of camaraderie. But let's see how long it can last against us, in pairs you'll come at Nori and me and you'll only have to land a single hit to get our approval."

"We're uneven numbers." Nico voiced her objection, "how is that fair?" she had a feeling something was about to happen that she wasn't going to like. "And just where would this be taking place?"

"You're not participating, so that makes their numbers even." Nagisa turned on her with a smirk, "And I have a place already set up outside so we don't have to worry about damaging the building. Do you have any other objections?"

Nico held her ground, "You know that the pair of you are damn near impossible to compete with, you call that fair?"

"That's why I said they only have to land one hit, I'd be amazed if any of them can do that." Nagisa turned back to her classmates, "If you're all ready to start, let's move outside."

They headed out to a huge netted off area of the beach which was gaining a lot of attention from the rest of the guests. "A little overkill, don't you think Nagisa?" Nico asked as she noticed the look he was sharing with Nori.

"Not at all, I know some of your friends have very destructive abilities, I'm just looking out for the safety of everyone here." he gave her a fake smile again, "Now I have a spot picked out for you to watch from, go and get yourself comfortable."

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, I'll be watching closely so don't try any of you dirty tricks." she warned him before going to sit where he had pointed.

Slowly Nagisa and Nori made their way through her friends and classmates until it was just Bakugo and Izuku left standing. "Well now, best for last as they say." Nagisa taunted as the boys stared each other down. "Nicole believes a lot in you two, but from what our grandfather said you're just dragging her down."

"You have no clue what you're talking about. We've been a team since the beginning of the school year, if anything she's made us better." Bakugo snapped as Nori sneered at the comeback.

"She had her cat attacked and it took the two of you almost five minutes to get her loose, then while she is still in a weakened condition you let her run off and fight alone." Nori pointed out, repeating what had happened as if he had been there. "What would you have done if she had fallen? You would have been down a team member and you wouldn't have known."

Nico could see that they were trying to get under Bakugo's skin and unfortunately it was working. "Don't be a dumbass now, keep calm and ignore their words." she tried to coach from her seat knowing that she couldn't be heard.

"You weren't even there, so what do you know. Nico is the best thing that ever happened to our class and I won't let you look down on her just because of some mistakes made in the past by someone else." Bakugo pushed back against them, it was clear that he was at his breaking point and finally took a swing.

It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to make contact as Nagisa took a step back. "So she told you about her mother, that must me the two of you are close, but I have to ask just how close?"

"That is none of your damn business, what does it even matter to you?" Bakugo snapped as Izuku blocked a kick from Nori. "You're just going to terrorize her regardless so why even bother with all this."

"You're smarter than you look," Nagisa smirked, which pissed Bakugo off even more. "I might just have a use for you after all." he shifted into a massive ice blue lynx and pounced at Bakugo.

Nico had known her cousin was up to something and had leapt in to intervene. She pulled Bakugo back out of the way as hard as she could then shifted into her cat form and stood her ground in front of the much bigger wild cat, hissing and growling to get him to back off.

They just stood and stared at each other, Nico's deep red fur standing on end to make herself look bigger and Nagisa looming over her looking like he was getting ready to snap down and bite her in half.

It was at this point that an all too familiar scarf came flying out of nowhere and wrapped around the bigger cat. "I think you've proven your point, now you can leave my students alone." Aizawa said as he and a couple if the other teachers appeared.

Nagisa let out a low warning growl at the older man, but Aizawa didn't back down. "You don't scare me and I know exactly how to handle your family's quirk, so unless you feel like dying today you'll back off."

"Come on Nagisa, no point in making a mess of things. Grandfather told us not to start fights we can't finish." Nori said as Nagisa shifted back. "You can pick this up another time."

"You're right," he agreed, shifting his gaze from Nico, who was still growling at him, to Bakugo, "Sometime soon we'll finish this."

"Any time." Bakugo spat as Nico's cousins walked off. "House cat, you all right?" he noticed that she hadn't shifted back and was still hissing a little.

She didn't move, just watched and waited unless she couldn't smell them anymore before turning to look up at him. "Why'd you jump in like that? I could have taken him."

"No you couldn't have, he was going to rip into you." Nico snapped as she changed back, "If I hadn't jumped in then you'd be a bloody stain on the ground. Nagisa had every intention of putting up down for good and you let him bait you into blindly fighting, moron."

Bakugo was shocked for a moment, he hadn't realized just how close he had come to dying. "There's no way he could have taken me down, I'm better than that." he tried playing it off, but knew he had made a mistake when Nico pushed past him.

"Jackass, it's that kind of overconfidence that will get you killed one of these days." was all she said as she went to check on Izuku. "You alright, I know Nori can pack a lot of power when he's trying to keep someone off of Nagisa." she looked his arm over.

"I'm fine, maybe a little tender later. Are you really sure that Nagisa was going to tear Kacchan apart?" Izuku asked as he could feel his old friend's burning glare.

"One hundred percent, that's why he didn't shift until now." she looked over to her boyfriend, "Talk to him because if I try to I might claw his eyes out. Make him see how close he came to meeting his maker today."

"I'll try but you know just as well as I do he won't listen to anyone." Nico nodded her agreement with him before leaving, she needed some time alone to get over the tremors that were taking over her body.

Nagisa and Nori had left the next morning, and Nico started to relax again and after spending a few days with her friends and making up with Bakugo, Nico went to go see her father's aunt and uncle, bringing Bakugo along with her. "What is with all the trees around here? It's like they're out of season or something." He noted all flower bearing trees were in bloom when they shouldn't be.

"Granny likes to keep the flowers around a little longer, says that it prettier this way." Nico looked up, "but you should see it in the winter, all the trees lit up with fairy lights." she came to a stop in front of a small house. "I'm going to warn you that things might get a little crazy once we go inside, please don't hold them against me."

Nico didn't explain what she meant, just walked up to the door and knocked before opening it up. "Granny, Gramps. Anyone around?" she called as they walked in.

"Is that our little Nikky I hear?" an elderly woman came into the entrance, wiping her hands on her apron. "Aden come see this, you're not going to believe what I'm seeing." she called into the house, her green hair whipping around her.

"Granny, please I've told you to call me Nico." Nico flattened her ears, feeling a little embarrassed. They were joined by an older man with greying hair, "Gramps please tell her again."

"Rhetta you heard the girl," Aden scolded his wife before catching sight of Bakugo. "And just who are you?" His silver eyes scanning the teen carefully. "Nico, sweetie I think a stray followed you in."

Turning to see what he was talking about, Nico fought a smile. "Gramps he's not a stray." She did her best to keep a straight face. "This is Katsuki, the one I wrote about."

Rhetta slipped past Nico and got a closer look at Bakugo. "You didn't say anything about him being this handsome." she nodded her approval. "You are a very lucky boy to have caught our Nikky's eye."

"Can we finish coming in so you can continue your inspection." Nico said as she stepped out of her shoes. "We don't have a lot of time since we have to be back in a few hours."

"Well it's a good thing I made a big lunch then." Rhetta said as she ushered the teens in, "You two need to tell us all about how school is going, and just how you two got together."

"I told you everything already granny, please let's not talk about that." Nico groaned as she joined Aden at the small table in the dining room. "How has your garden been coming along?" she asked hoping to change the subject.

"You know my garden is just fine, as it is every time you ask." Rhetta answered as she went back to the kitchen. "Aden, you always have better luck getting her to open up, see what you can get from her."

Nico looked at the older man, "Rhetta my dear, leave the girl alone. She'll tell you everything when she's ready." he said as Nico mouthed 'thank you' to him. "But how is school been treating you? I know your mother's family is hard to get along with."

"Understatement," Bakugo scoffed, "I swear they're all bullies except for Nick and Nina."

"Those two are the only good ones, taking Nikky in like they did." Rhetta returned with a tray in her hands, Nico jumped up and helped her. "Bless them for going out of their way to make sure that she grows up with a somewhat normal life."

"They've been great." Nico agreed, "But I would have liked it more if I could have stayed with you." she started setting the dishes on the table as Rhetta came up next to her.

"And we would have kept you if we could have." Rhetta said, stroking Nico's hair, "But you needed to learn how to control that beast of yours and we just didn't know enough to help you."

"I would figured it out on my own, but you do have a point I guess." Nico sighed as she put the tray on a small cabinet, "So what has been going on since the last time I managed to come for a visit?" she asked rejoining the table and started gossiping with Rhetta.

They stayed until it started getting dark and both teens received a warning message from Aizawa about getting back soon or they would have detention for a month. "I'll try to come back as soon as I can." Nico promised from the front gate as they left.

"Door will always be open for both of you." Rhetta called after them.

"I think they like me." Bakugo grinned as they headed back to the hotel. "I think the next break we get from school the two of us come for a longer visit."

"I'd like that a lot." Nico smiled back at him, "and I know granny would too, she'd brag to all the neighbours about us for days after."

"Alright then, it's a deal then." he took her hand and wove their fingers together. "I think I could get used to coming out here."

"Good because gramps really like you and actually had nothing but kind words about you." Nico wrapped herself around his arm, "They liked you a lot, so if I don't bring you back with me there's going to be a lot of questions."

"Well at least one side of your family likes me." he missed having her all to himself. "I just wish we had more time before Aizawa comes looking for us."

"Some time soon we'll have all the time in the world, so I think I can wait till then." Nico happily sighed as they walked. "I really don't want to be on the receiving end of his detentions, I know he'll make life hell because of the glitter."

"Then let's make sure that we don't give him reason to get his revenge just yet." he waved down a taxi and they rode the rest of the way making plans for their next visit the entire way.


	22. I'm not your pawn

22 - I'm not your pawn.

With their trip over, the students of UA returned to their regular schedules, Nico had managed to convince the teachers to open the pool for weekend training while the weather was good. Most of the other girls joined her for a swim sunday mornings and then they would go off and leave the guys to wonder what they were getting up to.

"Hey Nico, your phone is going insane over here." Ochaco called as they got ready to go see a movie. "There's like a dozen messages and it won't stop ringing."

Quickly rinsing the shampoo from her hair, Nico wrapped a towel around herself to see who was so desperate to get her attention. "Oh that's not good, it's my uncle." she didn't even need to call him back since he was calling again. "Nick what's got your fur bunched? You know I go swimming first thing in the morning."

"Well you better be ready to come to the main house, we're getting called in for a final meeting about the Todoroki deal." Nick spoke quickly, "The old man said you could bring Katsuki if possible. I think he wants to meet the boy."

"That's not good, alright do you want us to meet you in front of the gate?" she asked while trying to dress.

"That would be a good idea, and make sure he looks presentable." he hung up and Nico quickly called Bakugo.

"Come on and pick up, today can't be the one day you chose to sleep in." she muttered as the phone rang.

"I swear this better be important." he snapped answering.

"It is, and watch you tone with me." Nico warned him, "Get your ass up and dress respectfully, you're coming with me to my family's main house." she explained before he could say anything else.

"Fuck," Bakugo swore and Nico could hear what sounded like him falling out of bed. "This would happen on a day I planned to take it easy."

"Trust me, I wasn't expecting it either. Now get ready and I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes." she hung up when she heard him grumble his answer.

"You feeling alright runt? You look like you're going to be sick." Nick noticed Nico was looking a little green when they came down to the car.

She nodded stiffly, "Just trying to keep myself together. I don't know how the old man is going to react." she'd been on pins and needles since she had gotten off the phone with Nick, "You know how harshly he judges me. There's that on top of the meeting."

"What's the worst the geezer can do?" Bakugo noticed both Nick and Nico went a little pale. "It can't really be that bad, can it?"

"It can get pretty bad, firecracker." Nico patted his cheek, "and not just for us, the old man's influence reaches far." she left her hand on his face for a little longer. The day was going to be rough enough as it was on her, she didn't want to bring Bakugo down with her if things got bad.

"I ain't scared," he gave her a kiss on the top of her head, "I got All Might on my side, I think it'll be fine." giving her a half smile he hoped it would calm some of her nerves.

"Will you two get in already. And no making out while I'm driving, I don't want to be the cause of a traffic accident." Nick got Nico to laugh, even if it was half hearted it was better than nothing.

Nick pulled up onto a little house, "We're stopping here first, runt go get changed." he said as Nico hopped out. "And as for you, we're going to need you to stay here." he turned on Bakugo once Nico was out of sight. "The old man doesn't like outsides too much and if we just brought you up to the main house without him saying so, it could be a lot of trouble for her. Nico's whole life here has had her walking on thin ice, while she know where it's safe to step it could change with my father's mood."

Bakugo wasn't about to stir up trouble, not if it meant the punishment would come down on Nico. "I get you, I'm not stupid enough to do something dumb." he could see Nick relax a little, "I'll hang out here if that's what it takes, I know that getting his approval means a lot to her for some reason."

"You're not as dumb as you look, maybe you do have potenial after all." they looked over to the house to see Nina coming out, "But you're wrong on one thing, she doesn't want his approval, she wants his acceptance. Ever since she came to live with us, it's all she's ever wanted."

Nick saw the question forming before Bakugo could say it, "With what happened with Nami, the old man couldn't bring himself to accept her as a full member of the family. It doesn't help that she's an exact copy of her mother at that age." As if on cue, Nico came out wearing a deep green kimono with a gold obi and her hair braided over one shoulder. "If you drool any more, you float away." Nick snickered, catching Bakugo staring.

"I'm sorry you're going to have to wait here on your own, I just hope this meeting won't take too long." Nico gave him a soft smile, "I'll come and get you when grandfather says he'll see us, if not we can spend the rest of the day slowly making our way back home."

"Don't you worry about me house cat, you can make it up to me next weekend." Bakugo smiled at the small blush he managed to get from her.

"Kit, you need to leave now. We will catch up in a few minutes." Nina said, snapping Nico back to reality.

"Alright." Nico said, bouncing up on her toes to give Bakugo a small peck on the cheek. "Stay out of trouble and we'll see about next weekend." and she was off for the main house in a flash.

As Nico made her way to the meeting room, she was ambushed by her cousins Nagisa and Nori. "It's about time runt, I've been waiting for you to show. I can't be seen going into the meeting without my third." Nagisa snapped, "It shows the rest of them I can't keep a tight leash on my subordinates, and I can't have that."

"I had to come from school, so you'll have to excuse me for not being here earlier." she shot back at him. "I would have thought you'd be planning your grand entrance with your extra time."

Nagisa's hand shot out and grabbed her chin, "I wouldn't get lippy with me, not if you want to protect that boyfriend of yours." he smirked as Nico's eyes went wide with shock. "Yeah that's right I know the truth and you're lucky I haven't told grandfather, yet."

"Did you honestly think you'd be able to keep it a secret just because you went off to UA?" Nori joined in, "There's nothing we don't know about, we need to keep the rumors to a minimum."

Nico tried to free herself from Nagisa's grip but couldn't get free, "Now just behave yourself and no one will get hurt, maybe." he dropped her chin and led the way to the meeting room, still smirking.

"You're a dick, Nagisa." she muttered, rubbing the tender spots on her face.

"I'm sorry I missed that," he turned to look back at her, "Did you say you wanted me to tell grandfather about your precious boyfriend?"

"I didn't say a thing," she gritted her teeth, "sir." I took everything she had not to punch him in the face.

"As I thought." he nodded once, "We've wasted enough time, we can't keep everyone waiting."

Almost all of the family had shown up, they knew there was something important going on and wanted to be present. They were lined up in a militaristic style, much like when the old man had shown up during the battle of the classes, with Nico in the front row with Nagisa between her and Nori.

"As most of you have heard we have become allies with the Todoroki family, which means we are going to have more ties to pro hero organizations." Nico's grandfather, the current head of the family, said to the crowd. "I expect that will increase the jobs that will be sent our way and also requests for our assistance with larger missions. It does not mean that we will be officially joining any one company, we will still be as we always have been, independent of their politics."

A low murmur rippled through the crowd, "We have long since upheld our way of conducting ourselves when it comes to the hero laws, but this move does not change that in fact it takes us one step closer to being in a position to make changes to those laws in our favour." he silenced the chatter, "If all goes according to plan, that day will come sometime soon. All of you are dismissed except for the council."

"Yes sir." they said in one voice, everyone filed out leaving Nico with her cousins, Nick, Nina and her grandfather.

"Now I know almost all of you know how close we are to closing this deal." the old man shot a cold glace to Nico, "We only have come to a small bump in the road. Endeavour is pressing for a proper union of the families but doesn't only want someone with a beast form."

"But grandfather, there aren't enough of us with a duel quirk. Just who do you suggest?" Nagisa said with a wicked look in his eye, "Wait a minute, Nicole don't you have someone from Todoroki family in your class? This could work out nicely."

Nico's eyes went wide as Nick took a sharp breath in, even Nina looked a little worried. They all knew if Nico lied it wouldn't end well. "I do, Shoto happens to be Endeavour's son." she tried to not sound scared of where this was going. "I haven't had much interaction with him, but he has great potential to be a great hero." She was on autopilot, scared of what would happen if she didn't tell them what she knew.

Her grandfather studied Nico as he thought, "You do happen to have a useful second quirk from that father of yours, and you have your mother's beauty going for you as well." Nico didn't like the way this was starting to sound. "It's settled then. I will take the agreement to them and see if a deal can be made."

"No," Nico whispered, "I'm not some pawn to be used as you see fit." she snapped, it was her life and she wasn't about to let them take her options from her. "You didn't even stop to consider how this would affect me, you just went and made the decision for me."

"I don't know what they're teaching at the school you love so much, but I still have final say in this matter." The old man got to his feet and back handed Nico when she wouldn't back down. "You will do as you are told. If you want to stay at that school of yours you will do as I say."

Nagisa took the opportunity to put his two cents in. "This sudden outburst might have something to do with the rumors I have been hearing that she's been seen with a boy with an explosion quirk." Nico should have known Nagisa was going to tell her grandfather no matter what.

"Is that so? Nicolas I thought I told you to make sure this did not happen." he turned on Nick, "Never mind, clearly I have to deal with matter myself. As of this point you have two options, you can stay at that school and enter into the marriage contract with the Todoroki boy or you come back here where I can keep a proper eye on you."

Nico gritted her teeth, making the little slip in her lip deepen. "I choose neither. I want to stay at school and you can find someone else to use as a pawn." she didn't lift her head but she wasn't going to back down. "I don't care what you think of me, but I will not be used."

"I was afraid there was too much of your mother in you." grandfather noted, "but it wouldn't only be you being punished, Nina and Nicolas were responsible for making sure you wouldn't repeat her mistake, so it would be all three of you out on the street, stripped of hero status and unable to keep your licences."

Nico dropped her head farther, feeling completely defeated. "I will leave school then." was all she said before leaving the meeting room, shifting and running at full speed back to Bakugo.

"Katsuki." she called out as she changed back, "We're leaving." she went and grabbed his hand without letting him see her face.

"Don't you want to change? Not that I mind, but you sure you want to go around dressed like that?" he wasn't sure what was going on but he let her pull him out of the house in time to see Nick and Nina coming down the way. "What's going on? I would have thought you'd want to say bye to them."

"I don't want to talk about it." she kept pulling him along, but he dug his heels in. "Please I just need to get away from this place." she pleaded, it pulled on his heart so he scooped her up and took off.

Once they had put some distance between them and the Gatta estate, Bakugo put Nico down. "You feel like telling me what happened and just why the hell is your lip split." he took her by the shoulders.

"I talked back, the old man gave me a choice and I stood my ground." Nico flinched as she touched her lip. "I wouldn't let him bully me into doing something I didn't want to do."

"I should go back there and blow him straight to hell." Bakugo growled, he went to turn away from her but Nico grabbed onto his sleeve.

She tried not to look scared, but it was impossible. "Don't, he may be old but he's still strong. I just want to go home."

Bakugo was weak against her pleading voice, "Alright, we'll head back." he kissed her forehead, "But just how do you plan on getting around without any shoes? We'll find somewhere to get you a change of clothes."

"I could always just be a cat and that way we can just get a train back to the school. There's no reason for us to delay going back." she said as Bakugo scooped her up and held her tight.

"I'd prefer walking with you like this." he smiled as she blushed, "It looks like I rescued you this way, and I like it that way."

"Just another way to stroke your ego, Katsuki you are the worst." she lightly kissed his cheek, regretting doing so when she saw the small line of blood that was left behind. "But that's what I love about you."


	23. I can't bear to see him again

23 - I can't bear to see him again.

Once they had gotten back to the dorm, Nico made up a lame excuse to avoid everyone and vanished to her room. "So it didn't go well?" Izuku asked as Bakugo flopped down on one of the couches.

"Didn't even get to see the old man," he sighed, "whatever happened upset her a lot but you know how she is, won't say a word about it."

"You'll get it out of her eventually, you always do." Izuku patted his friend's shoulder. "Maybe you could call Nick or Nina to see if they can shed a light on what happened."

"Yeah maybe in the morning, if she doesn't come out before then." Bakugo leaned his head and closed his eyes, "Why do women need to be so complicated?"

"Then us men wouldn't talk about the women who drive us nuts." Kirishima joined them with Denki. "We just get to see the crazy all the time, so we have more to talk about." the four of them watch most of their girlfriends chatting.

"I think they're making plans to go out on Saturday, something about the four of them and Yaoyorozu going to see a movie." Izuku said as Ochaco broke away from the group and headed for the stairs. "So I think thinking that the five of us should do the same, might as well since the girls are going to be busy."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that." Kirishima agreed. "Just a bunch of dudes doing manly things."

"I think the arcade was getting a few new games, we could go check them out." Denki offered.

"Kacchan, what do you think?" Izuku asked, getting Bakugo's attention. "You could leave cheering Nico up to the girls."

After a long moment, "Yeah, might as well. Hanging out with you nerds is better than sitting around doing nothing." he finally answered. "It's been a long day, I'm turning in."

While everyone was making plans, Nico was packing all her belongings. She didn't know when they would come to collect her, but it was better than waiting until the last minute to pack. _I should explain to Katsuki what's going on. He deserves to know._ She picked up the picture everyone had taken at the beach, _I just can't bring myself to do it. It hurts me to think I'm not going to be able to see him again._

Carefully she took the picture from the frame and folded it so she could carry it in her wallet. Looking around the room, it was almost like she hadn't been there at all.

A message with a single word came across her phone, 'midnight'. _So tonight then, guess they didn't want me getting ideas of running._ Nico sighed, pulling a writing pad into her lap and started writing out her explanation.

"I'm sorry Nico, I know you're doing this for us." Nick offered when he saw how miserable his niece looked. "Maybe once the old timer cools down a little you can ask for some leave and come visit for friends."

"No, I can't." was all she said, taping a piece of paper to her door. "My place isn't here anymore, I will not be welcome here again." she looked out the window and across the hall, "No one around here will want me to come back. Let's go before someone wakes up." She turned away from the window and went down to the waiting car.

"Kit," Nina started, but chose not to say anything else when she saw the silent tears on Nico's face. "Let's go home Nick."

They were long gone by the time anyone noticed they were less one house cat. Ochaco was the one that found the note when she went to make sure Nico was still going with them. "Guys something happened to Nico." she came running down the stairs note in hand.

Izuku and Bakugo were on their feet and met her half way. "What's going on?" Bakugo took the paper from her. "I'm sorry, forget me? What the hell is this?"

"I went to see if she was up, but the door was open a little and that was on the other side. Her room was cleared out, it's like someone came in the middle of the night and erased her from the dorm." Ochaco explained, "What happened yesterday?"

"I wish I knew, but I'm going to find out." Bakugo shoved Nico's note back into Ochaco's hands, "I'll bring her home. Kicking and screaming if I have to."

Bakugo made up a weak excuse to skip out on classes for the day and found his way to the Gatta estate, determined to get answers. What he hadn't been expecting was to see Nina waiting at the gate for him. "I had a feeling you'd come." she pushed herself off of the wall. "But you should know she's not going to want to see you."

"Why not?" he snapped, "What the hell is going on?" he demanded when she wouldn't answer him.

"Follow and don't talk." Nina waved for him to join her as she turned. "I'm taking a huge risk for you, appreciate it." she pushed open a small side gate and walked toward a small house.

Bakugo wasn't sure of what was going on, but he trusted that he would get some kind of an answer. "Hey sis, what's going on?" Nick greeted Nina, leaning a little to see the teen behind her. "You might not want to let her know what you're thinking of." he knew that Nina was going to try to get Nico to talk.

"Our niece would have to say something in order for me to know what she wants. Since she hasn't left her room today, I thought I would try to get her out." Nina answered him, heading inside. "I won't let her slip away again, and if it takes going against father then so be it."

Bakugo looked at Nick, clearly confused at what was going on. "We were told to turn you away." Nick answered without being asked. "Nico hasn't said anything since she told us that she didn't want to see anyone from UA. It broke her heart that she was forced to leave the way she did."

"Then why leave at all?" Bakugo finally asked, "If she didn't want to leave, then why go at all?"

Nick looked up to the front window on the second level as Nina pushed it open. "It's not my place to explain, but just know it wasn't an easy decision."

"I told you I didn't want any of them here." they heard Nico shout, "I'm not one of them anymore." They didn't hear anything for a while before loud cursing started pouring from the open window.

"Well at least she's speaking." Nick sighed, "Stay as long as you want, but don't be surprised if something gets thrown at you." he waved the boy in as he opened the door.

"What's going on?" Bakugo asked again, following Nick inside. "Why does it look like Nico doesn't plan on coming back to school?"

"That would be because she's not." Nina answered coming down to join them in the living room. "Our father gave her a choice and unfortunately neither one was something she wanted to pick."

Bakugo noticed the Nina had four scratches running along her cheek. "Is she really that upset that I'm here?"

"I may have asked for this by showing you the way." Nina didn't even seem to notice the thin cuts. "Nicole doesn't want anyone else to know where she is, can I ask you to keep this to yourself."

"Sure, I don't mind. I plan on being the one to bring her back anyways." he nodded getting sad looks from the adults.

"That's the problem, Nico has to stay here. She went back on the deal she had made with the old man and this is the punishment." Nick explained as he watched Bakugo's face drop. "Sorry kid, I know it sucks but eventually she'll be allowed to work with an agency and if you're lucky you two can pick up from there."

"No." the three turned their attention to the stairs, "We'd be fooling ourselves if we thought it was a good idea for us to stay together after all of this." Nico said from the top of the stairs before disappearing back down the hall she had come from, Bakugo couldn't help noticing how red and puffy her eyes looked.

"It seems like that's our que to show you the door." Nick said sadly, "Going to miss you blondie." he clapped the young man on the shoulder.

"One of us will contact you if she changes her mind." Nina was a little sympathetic to the situation. "I hope you don't hold this against her, things right now are beyond tense around here and we're all under a lot of pressure." she walked out with him, "I can give you a ride back to the school if you wish and explain to your teacher what happened."

He just numbly nodded, the force of Nico's rejection knocking the ability to speak out of him. Bakugo sat silently as he watched the buildings go past, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. "She doesn't mean what she said." Nina finally spoke, "Nicole is trying to protect you and pushing you away so violently is the only thing she can think of."

"Protect me? From what?" None of it made any sense to him, "Does this have anything to do with what happened yesterday?"

"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume she didn't tell you much of what happened," she paused, slowing down as they got closer to the school. "While it's not my place to meddle, I will tell you that she did not make this choice for selfish reasons. I know my niece better than she realizes and I know she does not want to see you treated the same way Parker was. My father was not pleased with Nami for marrying him and made it clear every chance he got, that is what she wants to shield you from."

"Funny way of showing she cares then, didn't even give me a chance to stand up to the geezer."

"Because she wants you to move on, Nicole thinks that there is no way for you to get close to your goals if you are to stay with her." Nina said catching him off guard. "She told me that you plan on being the number one hero someday, so Nicole is under the impression that cannot happen if you stay with her and allow yourself to get caught up in Gatta affairs." Bakugo hadn't taken that into consideration before.

"I know this a lot to think over, but if you could try to keep your heart open for her a little longer I will see if I can get her to change her mind." Nina pleaded with him, "Nami asked us to always watch out for Nico and we've done a piss poor job."

"No you haven't." Bakugo reassured her, "It's just once Nico has convinced herself of something there's no changing her mind. I'll make sure that the others know that she didn't go willingly and that she didn't want them to make a big deal about it." He opened the door, and paused before getting out. "I guess this will be the last time we see each other, thanks for looking after her." and with that Bakugo made his way back to the dorm, gritting his teeth against the tears that fell freely. It was good he chose to cut class today, he was about to let the other see him in such a state.


	24. Just another stray

24 - Just another stray.

Flicking the tv on, Nico started getting ready for her day, Nagisa had ordered her to go help one of the larger hero agencies with an operation they were going to be partaking in. "With the capture of the villain Overheat by the heroes Uravity, Red Riot, Chargebolt, and Ground Zero, the whole country can breathe a sigh of relief." the reporter smiled as they showed a video of the capture.

"Damn, I was waiting for the bounty to come through on that one." she swept up her now short hair into a small tail. "But it's good to see them working together." It had been a while since she had seen any of the friends she had made from UA on the news, but seeing Bakugo made her heart ache a little. "It's going to be a long day as it is, I could have done without seeing him today."

"Who are you talking about Kit?" Nick asked as he let himself into the house. "Oh looks like Overheat got himself caught." he caught a glimpse of the broadcast before the topic changed to the weather.

"Yeah it sucks, but I guess it's better than having him on the loose." she offered him a mug, "Just made coffee so it's still hot." Nico turned her attention back to the tv.

"Did they say who caught him?" Nick dropped into a chair, "I hope it wasn't any of this year's rookies."

"Not rookies." she answered, not wanting to think about the people she was forced to leave behind.

"Ok then, well are you excited to see your new work space?" he could tell that it was a sore spot already. "You're going to be gone a while, you going to miss me at all?"

"Not a hope in hell." Nico turned to look at her uncle, "I know you'll come and check up on me in a few days once you get lonely."

"Come on now, do you really think so little of me that you assume I would be lonely without you or Nina around." he managed to get a small smile from her, "Plus you're going to be extra busy, so I'll stay out of your hair until you call me."

"So when you come scratching at my door because you're bored, I can turn you away? I like the sound of that." she went back to watching the news, "You're too used to having me and auntie around to entertain you."

"Well I seem to remember a little girl who always wanted me to keep her company." Nick tried to get a reaction out of her. "If I remember correctly, some of the heroes you're going to be working with were your classmates once, maybe while you're away from the family you can have a little fun with them."

"I have my orders from Nagisa, I am only there to aid with their tech." Nico pulled into herself, "I'm not there to make nice with the people I once called friends."

Nick missed the happy fun loving Nico, she had become exactly what Nami hadn't wanted. Five years had passed since she had come back home and over that time most of her happiness had been suppressed leaving a little cold and harsh at times.

"I know you've been excited to see your old friends." he put the mug down, "I'll go get the car ready then, you should get ready to head out."

"I just need to change and I'm ready, could you take my bag to the car? I left it by the door." she didn't look away from the screen as the huge man got to his feet.

"Sure thing, just don't take too much longer." he lingered a little longer before taking her duffle bags out to his car. "I really hope that boy knows what he's doing, there's a lot on the line. I hope they don't screw it up." he said to himself, what he hadn't told Nico was that it was one of her old friends that had called him with the job offer.

Bakugo joined up with the rest of the staff from the building to meet the specialist that had been requested from an outside source. There had been whispers that they were some big time family, while others said they came from a large tech company.

"Hey Bakugo," Kirishima waved him down, "So who do you think we're getting?"

He shook his head, "I just got here so I haven't seen anyone new yet." they heard their commander clear his throat making a hush fall over everyone.

"Alright listen up." the commander called for the crowd's attention, "Our partners from the Gatta family have sent their finest tech specialist to help us for the next little while." Kirishima and Bakugo looked at each other as they heard the clacking of heels come from the left side of the room. "I'd like to introduce the Scarlet Panther, she'll be here to make necessary upgrades for anyone who wants them." Nico walked over and silently stood with the commander, hands crossed behind her back.

Bakugo couldn't believe how much Nico had changed, she was so much taller now but she had cropped her hair down to her jaw line. He also noticed that she was wearing a blank expression, a complete opposite of the smile that had been burned into his memory.

"Shit, that's Nico. Look at her now, damn I bet you wish you hadn't broken up back then." Kirishima nudged the stunned Bakugo. "I bet she'd be more than happy to work on your gear."

The commander's voice brought Bakugo back to reality, "I'll send out a memo once she's all set up and you can go see about your upgrades." he dismissed them, turning to walk with Nico back to the work rooms.

Bakugo felt Kirishima give him a shove, "Go after her, I know you want to talk to her. I'll round up the others and meet you at the usual place."

He nodded, weaving through what was left of the crowd. "Oi, Nico." Bakugo called out, noticing one of her ears flick his way. "If you had planned on coming, you should have said something."

She turned a little to look back at him, "I'm sorry if I had known you worked with this organization, I would have had my uncle inform you." her voice held little emotion, but Bakugo noticed a small spark of something in her eyes. "If it is a problem I can arrange for a replacement." It was just her height that had changed, her eyes had become more cat-like and even her incisor teeth had become more fangs, giving her a more predatory look.

"No problems, it's just been a while and Kiri would've wanted to get everyone together." he looked to the commander, "I have to got to the tech department anyways, I can take her." he offered, he didn't have to go that way, but made the excuse so he could get the chance to talk with her a little.

"Thank you Bakugo, I appreciate it." he nodded to the pair, "You have all the contact information for my office if you need anything. Thank you again for coming." and he went to take care of other business that needed his attention.

"I don't need you to babysit me." Nico said as they continued to walk, she noticed that he was still wearing the cuff she had made. "I would have thought since I haven't heard from you in years that you wouldn't want to see me."

"I didn't think you wanted to hear from me." He admitted, "with the way you left and all."

"I didn't leave on good terms." Nico could feel her carefully crafted mask start to slip, all the emotion from her last night at the dorms started trickling back. "I never told you why I had to leave."

"You don't need to say anything, we just figured it had something to do with your family." Bakugo looked over as she stopped. "You had your reasons and you don't owe anyone an explanation."

"Good to know, now if you will excuse me I have to get my shop set up." she kept her head held high as she walked past, trying to not let him see the tears building up in her eyes. "I take it I'll be seeing you tomorrow, along with anyone else from our class."

"Yeah, tomorrow them." he said as Nico closed the door to her shop. There was so much he had wanted to say, that he wanted to know but couldn't bring himself to ask. _Fuck, what the hell. She looked like she was going to cry._

"Hey Katsuki, you made it back in one piece." Kirishima greeted him as he joined Ochaco and Denki at a local restaurant. "So was it really her?"

"Yeah it was Nico, but she's changed since she left." he dropped into the seat across from Denki. "I wonder if she'll actually work on my gear."

"Why wouldn't she, I mean that's the real reason she was called in." Ochaco chimed in, "I would figure after all this time she would have let go of what happened."

"It would be easier to get over if I knew what happened, with the way she left and then wouldn't see or talk to anyone, so there's no way to know what actually is going." Bakugo couldn't help but feel a little defeated. "It's going to be impossible to get used to seeing her everyday."

His friends looked at each other, not really sure what they could say or do. "Hey bro, don't sweat it, just take it day by day." Kirishima tried to distract him, "You know that server that has been hitting on you is in today, maybe you can finally ask her for her number." he pointed her out across the room.

"I'm just going to head home, I'll catch up with you guys tomorrow." Bakugo grabbed his coat as he got up, "and don't get any ideas about getting that number, I can find my own dates jackass." he snapped at Kirishima as he left.

Instead of heading home like he said, Bakugo found himself standing outside of Nico's workshop again. _Fucking hell, why the hell am I back here._ He went to knock on the door, but hesitated. _Fuck it, I'm going home._

He started to walk away when he heard someone else in the hall behind him. "You jackass," Nico shouted, throwing one of her shoes at his back. "It's been five years and that's all you got." she had changed from her suit into athletic gear and her other shoe in her hand ready to throw it. "I expected some big reaction, shouting or something. What kind of wimp move was that, leaving like that only to come back like an hour later and standing outside my door like a total creep."

Bakugo turned to face her, "You want to talk about wimp moves, what the hell is with the tears? You left us, without so much as a word in the middle of the night and now you look like you're going to start bawling." he took a breath to steady himself, "You left me and didn't say why."

"What happened to not needing to explain myself?" she snapped, "I thought I didn't need to tell you why I left like I did?"

"I thought you would have explained anyways, it was a dick move picking up like that and running away with your tail between your legs." he shot back at her.

"Fine, you want to know what happened, someone had told my grandfather about us." She had her hands balled up on her pant legs, fighting back her tears and failing. "He said that he would punish my aunt and uncle if I didn't leave school. I … I wanted to stay… I wanted to be there with you." she started to tear up, all the emotion she had been holding back the whole time came rushing down on her. "I didn't want to leave, but if I had stayed I couldn't have been with you."

The truth in her eyes made Bakugo freeze in place, it wasn't what he was expecting. Every argument he had been coming up with in his head all died on the spot. "I wanted to be selfish and I wanted it all, but I ended up with nothing. God how could I be so stupid, I should have just said something. Katsuki I…" she was cut off by him pulling her into his chest and wrapping his arms around her.

"Dumbass, why'd you try to do everything on your own?" Bakugo whispered as Nico broke down crying, grabbing on to the back of his shirt and clung to him. "Now look at you, do you only know how to ugly cry?"

Nico managed a small laugh, reaching into her pocket for a tissue. "Just how many of our classmates work here? I'm starting to think Nick suggested me for this job not because of my skills." She retreated deeper into Bakugo's arms.

"Let's see there's us and Deku, Kirishima, Ochaco, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari." Bakugo listed off, trying to think of anyone he had missed.

"I have a lot of apologizing to do. But there's one problem now, I'm not going to be able to go back now, I just hope that Nagisa doesn't care that I'm running back to where I belong." Nico looked up at Bakugo.

"Screw him, if he doesn't like it then I'll just blast him into next year." Bakugo wrapped his arms around her tighter. "Let me walk you home and tomorrow we can see about talking more about what happened."

"Then we don't have far to go," she pointed to the workshop. "I didn't plan on renting anything for the month I was going to be here. So I have a small cot set up so I can work until I crash."

"That'll do for tonight, but tomorrow we'll see about getting you a real place." Bakugo thought of something, "Have you eaten yet?" When she shook her head he pulled away a little, "Get a coat, I just thought a good place to eat that I'll know you like."

Blinking at him a couple time Nico took a second to process what he was saying. "You want to go out to eat with me?" she was really confused now, "Are you sure about that?"

"Just go get your coat." he let her go and went to get her other shoe, "You'll see why once we get there." Turning around he saw her pulling on a hoodie that was easily meant for someone twice her size.

"What?" she asked when he started laughing, "It was the only thing I could find, you got a problem with that?" she snatched her shoe from him and put it back on.

"I just remembered the first day we met, you were hiding under a hoodie and a baggy pair of jeans." he draped an arm over her shoulders. "I guess old habits are hard to kill."

"Yeah I guess it's more of a security thing now than ever." she kept her hands in the pockets of the sweater. While it was obvious that he forgave her, she could forgive herself for putting him through everything, "I've missed you, Katsuki. More than I wanted to admit to myself and I'm so sorry for pushing you away, I was being stupid and trying to protect you." she could feel a new wave of tears starting to form.

"Don't start with the tears again, save that for when you see Ochaco." he pulled her close, "I know once she sees you you'll both be crying in seconds."

"I don't think I deserve to be forgiven." she hung her head a little, "I just picked up in the middle of the night and I didn't even say goodbye."

"Don't worry about it, I told them that you were needed at home. I bent the truth a little once I had some idea of what happened." he tried to make her feel a little better.

"Thank you for that, but I still have to apologize. It must have caused an uproar with me leaving like that."

"Yeah it did," he admitted, "but I think you'll before forgiven regardless. But come on, I have a surprise that you'll want to see." he urged her along a little faster.


	25. Home is where you make it

25 - Home is where you make it

After apologizing to Kirishima, Denki and hugging Ochaco tightly while both women cried, Nico lay staring at the ceiling of the workshop. _I wonder how everything will go over with everyone else? I hope it will be just as smoothly as it went today._

She crossed her hands behind her head, since the shop was set up the way she liked there wasn't much she needed to do for the next few days while the memos were sent around. _Katsuki said he would help me find a place to stay so I don't have to sleep here, but should I accept his help? I mean I should since he has lived in the area for long enough but I still can't get over how easily he forgave me._ She rolled over and grabbed her wallet and pulled out the picture from their beach trip. It was heavily creased and worn from the folding and unfolding every time she felt lonely. _Can we go back to being that happy or will my leaving hang over us forever?_

Just as she ran her fingers over the old picture, her phone buzzed to life with a call. "Gatta." she answered the number that was unfamiliar.

"Come outside." responded the mystery caller said and hung up leaving Nico with a worried confused look.

Grabbing her sweater and a small purse filled with gadgets she had made, Nico slowly made her out of the building to find Bakugo waiting. "What's going on?" she asked but he just smiled at her.

"It took a little doing, but I thought you'd like to have a bit of a class reunion." he pointed to her left and when she looked over Nico had to cover her mouth to choke back a sob.

Somehow Bakugo had managed to round up just about everyone from their class. "It wasn't easy either, the missing ones will be coming as soon as they can make the trip." he answered before she managed to ask. "And there's someone, other than me, that really wanted to come to see you." she heard footsteps behind them, spinning she turned to see Izuku.

"Look at what the cat dragged in." he smiled and that was when Nico couldn't keep the tears at bay.

"All of you came here just for me?" she managed to ask as she fought the sobs. "After the way I left, all of you are here and still my friends." she had to grab onto Bakugo, "I don't deserve any of this."

"There's one thing you forgot about your short time with us we're a family, and even if you didn't want to tell us then, you're still one of us." Izuku said as the rest of their friends joined them and everyone started talking at once. For some of them it had been a while since there had been a gathering this large.

Nico looked over and noticed Bakugo watching her and mouthed 'thank you' to him. He didn't say anything as Nico when back to talking and collecting contact information of her friends and making plans for the near future.

Once the crowd started to disburse, Nico found her way in between Izuku and Bakugo. "You don't know how much that meant to me." she leaned back on a planter, "Thank you." She managed a tired smile.

"I had a feeling that you would want to see everyone once you settled, so I thought why not bring them to you." Bakugo said, pulling her close as Ochaco came back and grabbed one of Izuku's hands.

"When did this happen?" Nico asked as her best friend smiled a little.

"A little after you left, I meant to thank you for the advice you gave Deku." Ochaco held out her other hand, showing off an engagement ring. "I guess you'll be coming with Katsuki to the wedding."

Nico suddenly felt a little out of place, "Um, I'm going to have to get back to you on that." she flattened her ears, slightly embarrassed.

"Why, I don't have a date. You'd be going anyways so let's go together." Bakugo said, earning a shocked look from Nico. "What's the matter house cat, didn't expect that?"

"We'll see you two in the morning." Izuku said, nudging Ochaco along with him. "It's good to have you back." he waved and started to walk off.

"And then there were two." Bakugo said once they were alone. "So you going to be my date or what? It's still a couple months away so there's no real rush to answer."

"I would have thought you had some else you'd want to take with you." she pulled away a little. "You must have a girlfriend that should go with you."

"I tried to move on, but every time I found myself comparing them to you." he admitted, "For a little while I did hate you, but then I realized that your grandfather had put you in a position where you really didn't have a choice. So I figured that I would take Nick's advice and wait a little longer to see if I ever crossed your path again."

"So it was you who told Nick about the opening here?" Nico asked, she remembered how her uncle came running up to her over two months ago with the proposal. "There's no way he would have known unless someone told him."

"Nope, I was shocked as shit to see you walked in today." Nico was stunned by that, "It could have been anyone, but I am grateful to them. Now I get the chance to tell you that I still love you and I don't think I'd ever find someone who could ever change that." he confessed, making Nico even more surprised.

"I don't deserve your love," she moved even farther away, "not after leaving and pushing you away like I did. You shouldn't be so forgiving of what I did."

Taking her hand in his, "I think that's for me to decide, and I think that you have done nothing that needs to be forgiven. Why can't you see that?"

Nico thought about trying to pull away, but let him hold onto her hand. "I basically said that there was no way for us to ever be together, I pushed you away." she managed to say a little louder than a whisper, "I was cruel to you."

"I will admit that it was cruel at the time, but now that I've had time to look back on it and now that I have more of the story, I can see you only wanted what was best for me." Bakugo gently took her chin and tilted her face up. "You stole my heart and personally I want you to keep it as long as you give me yours in return."

Nico sniffled back more tears, "You're being too nice to this little stray." she said as he captured her mouth with him. After a long time they broke apart, "If I'm being honest, I'm really grateful to whoever Nick the heads up on the position here too. I was so miserable without you." Nico buried her face into his chest, letting out a low pur.

"You should go and try to get some sleep, we'll get you settled in a real place tomorrow." he gave the back of her hand a light kiss before letting her go. "I'll bring some breakfast and coffee before we get looking."

"I'll see you in the morning, firecracker." They both lingered, not really ready to let the other out of their sight. "I can't wait for tomorrow."

"Well that was a great waste of a day." Nico complained stretching out on the couch in her workshop. "Not only was there nothing available but we also missed out on having dinner with Todoroki and Momo. I think the universe is out to get me now."

"So we didn't have any luck today, you can always try again tomorrow." Bakugo tried to ease some of her disappointment. "While I won't be able to go with you, I'm sure you'll be fine on your own." he held out a bag from a local fast food place.

"Oh yay, another night on a cot that creaks every time I think about moving, just what I always wanted." Sitting up and taking the bag, Nico was not looking forward to another night in the workshop. " I should have found somewhere when I first took the job, now I feel like a moron."

Bakugo watched her for a moment, debating heavily on something. "I don't have an extra room, but my place is close by and pretty big." he paused to make sure he had her attention, "If you want, come crash there until you find space of your own."

"I couldn't do that, I did something stupid so I have to deal with the consequenes." Nico was touched by his offer, "I'll make do here until something opens up."

"And when we don't have the new specialist because she went and got hurt due to lack of sleep, what would we do then?" he pointed out, killing any other argument from her. "I don't mind and it'll give me a reason to come home at night. If you want I'll give you the bedroom and I'll sleep on the couch."

"Thank you Katsuki, but you keep your room. I'll try my best to keep the amount of fur to a minimum." Nico laughed when he gave her a confused look. "There are nights that I end up shifting in my sleep, so you'll have red cat fur everywhere."

"I'll deal, it's not like your cat is huge." he ruffled her short hair as he dropped down next to her. "You're just an itty bitty kitty."

"Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that this kitty cat can still kick your ass." she nudged him before stealing a handful of fries from him.

"Any time you think you can take me, you are more than welcome to try." Bakugo laughed stealing some of her food back. "God did I miss this, it's almost like you never went back home."

"That's not a real home, just four walls I lived in." Nico said, resting her head against him, "A true home is where you make it, with the ones you love. No matter where I end up, as long as I have you with me I'll be more than happy."

"There's nothing I would love more." Bakugo kissed the top of her head, "No more running away on me, I don't think I'd be able to take it again."

"I'm here for good, I don't plan on ever leaving your side again." she promised, "Come hell or high water you are stuck with me now."


	26. Only you

26 - Only you

A few weeks passed and eventually Nico had to give up on the apartment hunting, there had been nothing in the entire area that was either available or within her price range, but it didn't really bother her that much since she was staying with Bakugo.

They had fallen into a comfortable routine spending as much of their free time together. This day in particular Bakugo had come to collect Nico so they could spend the night relaxing together. He found her surrounded by stacks of papers and two different computer screens,

Bakugo lingered in the doorway of the shop just watching her mutter and filling out whatever was in front of her. He'd been away for a few days chasing down one of the members of the League of villains and he wanted to make sure she was alright, he knew that he didn't have to worry about her getting attacked but at the same time he had seen her forget to eat while caught up in her work.

"Katsuki, if you keep staring at me like that I won't be able to work." Nico laughed as she looked over a stack of papers at him. "And if I can't work now, I won't be able to go home with you later."

"I've missed you," he dropped into the chair across from her, "Can't you just do all of this later? I've got the next three days off, and I've been looking forward to spending time together."

She sighed and put down the paperwork. "I'd love to firecracker, but I have to be careful that I don't draw Nagisa's attention. If I want to stay here with you I can't have him catching on that we're together again."

While he went a little soft at her use of her pet name for him, the thought of them having to keep their relationship a secret pissed him off. "It shouldn't be up to him what you do or who you see." he growled, "You're going to tell him to shove his position up his ass anyways, so why the hell wait?"

Giving up on trying to get any work done, Nico went over to him and preached herself in his lap. "Because I don't want him to ruin your life. Nagisa has always hated me and has always gone out of his way to mess with me and now by extension you." she gave him a light kiss, "Now my wonderful firecracker, may I work so we can spend the next couple days together?"

"If it means I get you all to myself," he stole another kiss before letting her return to her desk. "Why don't I go get something for us to eat and you can finish faster."

"Whatever gets you out of my shop so I can work in peace." she waved him out grabbing a pen so she could fill out the forms. _What would happen if I stood up to Nagisa, how far would he go?_ She caught herself rubbing the middle of her lower lip. _There would definitely be a fight and I'd end up losing or barely be able to walk away. Could I put Katsuki through something like that, should I?_ She leaned back and put her hands behind her head.

Nico hadn't realized that she had zoned out until Bakugo dropped something in her lap, "Hey I thought you wanted to get work done." he noticed something was off, "What's on your mind?"

"I was thinking of what could happen when I tell Nagisa I'm leaving the family." she picked up the bag from her lap. "I'm a little worried that he'll take this out on you too."

Bakugo looked at the small pile of unfinished forms, "Will it be the end of the world if these aren't finished today?" he asked, knowing Nico needed to get out and be distracted a little.

"I need them done so I can get the parts I need. It'll be fast as most of them are filled out, shouldn't take more than a couple hours." She could see that wasn't the answer he wanted, "But I could bring them home with me to finish, as long as I get them in early tomorrow."

"How about this, do the really important ones now and finish the rest later." he offered, getting a little smile from her. "I really want to spend time with you while I have the time."

"I'm going to need at least an hour then." she pointed to the chair on the opposite side of the room, "You're going to wait over there, quietly. If I hear one peep out of you, I'm going to finish all of it today."

"I think I can handle that, but I need one thing from you first." he leaned down and took a long drawn out kiss, "That should hold me over till you're done."

"Go away you wicked man and let me work." she shooed him away with a huge smile. "Scoundrel." she giggled, trying to focus on the work in front of her.

Throwing down her pen, Nico leaned back and stretched out her back. "Finally done.'' She looked at the clock, it had taken much longer to finish up but since Bakugo fell asleep waiting for her, she finished all of it so she could focus all her attention on him.

She took a couple steps before shifting into her cat form, grateful that she was still the size of a large house cat, and leapt up into his lap. Nico rubbed her face against his cheek and purred loudly enough to wake him.

"Hey, you done already?" Bakugo mumbled as he looked over at the clock, "When did it get so late?"

Putting herself in a spot where she could shift safely, Nico sat in his lap. "You must have been worn out because you passed out on me. But it gave me time to finish everything and I'm now free for the next few days while I wait for parts." she leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "Why don't we head home and we can go do something tomorrow."

"I think that's a great idea, I'll pick up something on the way for dinner." he stood up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Katsuki, put me down." she shrieked while laughing. "You can't walk around with me up here like this. What if someone sees me like this, come on put me down." Nico tried to free herself, but there was no breaking his grip on her waist.

"Then let them see, I'm tired of having to hide the fact you're mine." he growled, "And besides, I think most of the people we work with have put it together that we're seeing each other." he grabbed her coat and bag before leaving.

"Alright, I guess you have a point. But please could you put me down, I can walk just fine on my own." she gave up fighting as he locked up for her.

"Nope, I said I was picking up dinner." he smirked a little as her tail puffed out a little. "Seems someone liked that idea."

"You are wicked Katsuki, so very wicked." Nico stammered out going bright red. She didn't fight with him as he carried her through the building, greeting their friends like it was normal for her to be slung over his shoulder.

The walk to their apartment complex wasn't a long one, so Bakugo just kept on carrying Nico the entire way. "Katsuki come on, the neighbors are staring at us." she whimpered, "please put me down."

"Ah let them stare, you're all mine and I don't really care who knows." There was something in his voice that made her fur stand on end. "If anyone has a problem with it they can take it up with me."

Nico heard a door open as the walked down the hall, "Oh Nicole, is everything alright dear?" she looked up to see their elderly neighbour come out into the hall.

"Everything's fine, Mrs. Fuki. I just sat at my desk too long and my legs fell asleep." Nico smiled as the older woman didn't seem to believe her. "I'll have to talk to you later." she waved as Bakugo didn't waste a step and walked right into their unit.

In one smooth motion Bakugo slid Nico down from his shoulder, placed her down in front himself and cut off anymore complaints by sealing his mouth over hers, pinning her to the wall. "You have no clue how badly I've been wanting to do that." he growled sending waves of goosebumps over her skin.

"It was only a few days, it couldn't have been too bad. I mean you couldn't have missed me too much, you didn't try to jump on me in the workshop." she purred back before he raked his teeth over her neck.

"I planned on sneaking up on you but you looked so busy." Bakugo nipped his way up to her jaw, "plus I get to do this since we're home." he pressed her against the wall with another kiss, sliding his hands under her shirt and making her moan a little.

Finally pulling away a little, "Bed, now." Nico panted as Bakugo grinned down at her before lifting her up and carried her to the bedroom.

"You still awake house cat?" Bakugo asked as Nico cuddled into him, he took the chance to run a finger along her ear making it flick with every touch.

"Yeah, just enjoying your warmth." she purred, her tail twitching in time with her ear. "If you plan on moving there better be a good reason."

"I'm not going far, just a little roll." he answered as he slipped out of her grip a little to reach for something. "Do you remember what I said to you just before we came back from the trip five years ago?"

Nico froze, "Of course, it was on the last night and you somehow managed to sneak both of us out so we could walk along the beach." It was one of the best memories she had. "You promised that once we graduated that you'd become a big time hero so my grandfather couldn't say anything about you marrying me." she blushed as he lifted her chin so she was looking at him.

"Wow I didn't expect you to remember all that." he smiled, "And while there have been a few bumps, you've found your way back into my life and I don't want to let you go ever again." he held out an open ring box, a simple gold band a diamond that had two smaller red stones on either side. "I knew you wouldn't want some huge ring and when I saw this one I knew it was perfect, but I need an answer."

Nico sat up slowly, her eyes flicking from the box back to Bakugo. She was completely speechless, "You're killing me here house cat, I need you to say something."

When Nico found her words, she gave him a huge smile. "I'll say the same thing I said back then, you better have warned Nick that a war is about to begin." she leapt on him and gave him a deep, passionate kiss. "I love you so much Katsuki. I was stupid for pushing you away all those years ago, and I'm so happy that you still want me."

"Only you babe, no one else even comes close." he freed the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger, "I was dumb enough to let you get away once but that's not a mistake I will never repeat again." he pulled he close as she buried her face into his neck. "You know Nina is going to kill me, so you better enjoy this while you can."

"She can try, but I think being with Aizawa has calmed her down a little." she mumbled, "But you did talk with Nick first, because he will kill you."

"Of course, I'm brave not stupid." he ran his fingers up and down her back. "Do you want me to come with you when you go tell Nagisa to shove it?"

"No, I'll go see him on my own in a few days." she purred contently under his touch, "Nothing can keep me from being with you now."


	27. Missing

27 - Missing

A few days later Nico went to see Nagisa at the main house, Bakugo insisted on coming with her but she told him that this was something that she needed to do on her own. She managed to convince him that she would meet him later for dinner and they would figure out to tell their friends the happy news.

Nico didn't bother with the formalities she had taken in the past, once she left after her meeting she wasn't going to be part of the family. Knocking once on the door she waited for anyone inside to open up.

"It's not like you to come out of the blue." Nagisa said as he returned to his desk, "I hope there's no problems with the work you've been doing."

"Nope, I came because I am returning this." Nico placed her tiger's eye in front of him. "You're going to need to find yourself a new third, I'm leaving."

Nagisa picked up the choker and studied it for a moment, "I had a feeling you would say that." He looked up at her, "Does this have anything to do with that ring you're wearing?"

"You already know the answer, so why bother asking the question." Nico wasn't going to back down from his gaze. "Katsuki asked me to marry him, even after everything that has happened between us."

"Part of which was my fault. I shouldn't have been such an ass to you." he looked a little guilty, which was something Nico didn't think was possible. "I shouldn't have said what I did back then, but I was jealous that you were getting to live your life while the rest of us had to stay here and take our training seriously."

"I was taking my training seriously, I even had some of my friends training just as hard with me." Nico snapped, being insulted that he would accuse her of slacking off. "While we were at Sakura's hotel that was the only time I really relaxed. I can't be expected to push myself to the point of killing myself training."

"I know," Nagisa placed the choker down and folded his hands over it. "I'm trying to apologize to you for my behaviour in the past, why are you making this harder than it needs to be?"

"I don't trust that you're being sincere." Nico crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I've known you all of our lives and you've always taken great joy in tormenting me."

"And there's nothing I can do to make up for it. I was jealous of you because you could always contest my appointment as heir to grandfather because you are Nami's daughter." he started explaining, "If you had ever wanted to, you could have taken my position from me and no one would have said anything about it."

"You should have known I would never have taken it from you, if I had challenged you but if I had won I would have let you keep your position. I may have said I wanted it, but it was all just hot air." she relaxed a little, "I wanted to prove that I was just as good as you are because I was tired of everyone looking down on me since I have a small cat."

"It seems we each wanted what the other had," he gave her a half smile, "Why don't we start over." Nagisa offered her the tiger's eye back. "I want you to stay as my third and I want you to stay with the family. I want to make things right between us."

Nico looked from the choker to Nagisa and back again. "I think that I'm going to need a little time to think this over. I want to talk this over with Katsuki first and then make my decision."

"I can understand that, I have to go visit some of our distant relatives later this week so come back in a week with your decision." Nagisa offered, but he didn't take the necklace back. "I will not rush you with such an important choice."

"Then I'll leave that with you." She pushed his hand back, "Once I've come to a decision, then I'll come back." Nico turned and left without another word.

"And you just walked out?" Bakugo asked after Nico told him what had happened. "So what are you planning to do?"

Nico shook her head, "I don't know, I can't tell if he actually means it and he's changed." she stretched out on the couch, tail waving above her. "I want to believe he means it, but given our history it's a little hard."

He watched for a moment before swatting at her to move so he could sit. "Maybe the jackass changed, you never know. But you shouldn't leave your family just 'cause he's a moron." Nico rested her head in his lap, "It's a big move, and a huge loss. You wouldn't get to see Nina and Nick as much as you like and then there's the special contracts you love getting, I'd think long and hard about this."

She purred lightly as he played with her hair, "There's someone else I have to take into consideration." Nico let her word hang for a little while before continuing on. "I'm going to be cutting back on the contracts I pick up, shifting is dangerous for me right now."

"Why's that, I thought you being in you cat form was the safest for you." Nico couldn't believe how dense Bakugo was being. "Well I guess you'll be home more often since you'll be cutting back, we'll get to spend more time together."

"Katsuki, I love you so much but you're an idiot." She sat up and looked at him. "Maybe once you figure out what I just told you, you'll understand why I shouldn't be shifting."

Before he could open his mouth, the doorbell rang and Nico hopped up, "That's going to be Ochaco and Momo. We're going to attempt dress shopping, we're leaving Izu and Shoto with you." She went and greeted the girls as their counterparts went in and joined the very confused Bakugo. "We'll see you guys later for lunch."

"What's the matter, Kacchan?" Izuku asked once he caught sight of the confused look, "You look like Nico dropped a surprise on you then ran off."

"Maybe, I don't really know what just happened." The blonde scratched his head, "I think I missed something important and I don't know what."

"The entire way over here the girls were snickering about something, I think they might know something." Shoto offered, "It could just be them planning something for another day."

"Ochaco said that Nico's been acting weird lately, even Mei thinks there's something up." Izuku added, "You didn't break anything, did you Kacchan?"

"Not lately." Bakugo hadn't been home much in the last few days, so he hadn't really noticed a big change. "Nico did say something about not being able to shift right now, but that doesn't mean anything right?"

"So tell us, what have you been hiding?" Ochaco grinned as they browsed the racks looking for something for Nico and Momo. "I know you've been in the workshop less and doing more deskwork than usual."

Nico knew it would be impossible to keep her secret for long, "You'll have to wait until I'm ready for everyone to know." Was all she kept saying, Nico wanted Bakugo to be the first to know before she started telling everyone. "I promise you'll be one of the first people we tell." She waved them off, completely forgetting about her ring.

"And when were you going to tell us about this?" Ochaco demanded grabbing Nico's hand. "Is this what I think it is?"

"It's a ring on my ring finger, you tell me." Nico smiled as her friends piled on her in a group hug, "I wasn't going to say anything until we started planning, don't tell anyone just yet. Katsuki wants to be the one to boast."

"Promise, I guess I should be looking for a dress while we're here then." Ochaco looked over to Momo, "Good thing we're all together then, we'll get good use of our dresses."

"You and Shoto? Since when?" Nico looked over at Momo who was blushing a little.

"Beginning of third year at UA," Momo held out her own ring, "Shoto proposed last month and we've been keeping it quiet for now."

"Good luck with that." Nico giggled, "a marriage between two high profile families is going to bring out all the crazies. I'm surprised the papers haven't heard about this yet."

"We haven't told either of our families yet, so that helps a little." Momo said as she held up a dress, "Here, go try this one one." She offered it to Nico.

It was a tight dark blue cocktail dress that flared out around the knees. "I think I'll pass. I wouldn't want Katsuki to blow anyone up for looking at me too long." Nico came up with a reason to pass on the dress she really wanted to try on. "I'll go with this one." She pulled a long emerald green a-line dress off of the rack. _This will do nicely._ Nico smiled to herself as she went to the change room to see how it fit on her now.

A few moments later, each of the girls had found something to try on and were showing off. "Wow I didn't think you'd actually look nice in that, but I was wrong." Ochaco marveled as Nico breezed out of the cubicle.

"That style is also very handy to hide a baby bump." one of the assistants commented as she helped the girls. "I've had a few bridesmaids come in asking for the perfect dress that didn't make the look huge."

"You don't say, well you never know what could happen." Nico tried not crossing the room and throttling the women. "Both Katsuki and I have vacation time coming up." She tried playing off the comment but she could see her friends weren't buying it.

"Alright keep you secrets for now, but we'll get the truth eventually." Ochaco laughed as they changed back and went to pay.

Since they still had a little time before they had to meet up with their counterparts, the girls decided to take a walk and window shop. Nico stopped a couple of times to pick up a few odds and ends she needed for personal projects while Ochaco and Momo went off and got a few things that they needed as well and by the time they were ready to go meet up with the guys they had several small bags between them.

"I'm so happy we managed to find dresses today, one less thing to worry about." Ochaco sighed happily as they waited, "I can't wait for the guys to see us all dressed up, they won't be able to take their eyes off of us."

"Katsuki can barely keep his hands to himself as it is, it'll only get worse once he sees the dress." Nico laughed leaning against a planter. She looked up at the clock that was by the train station, "Odd, the guys are running late. It's not like them to not call."

"Maybe something has them held up." Momo offered trying no to sound worried.

Just before any of them could get to their phones, Nico's ears swiveled around, searching for a faint sound. "Security alarms, we should go see if they need help."

The girls found a place where they could stash their bags so if there was fighting the bags wouldn't get in the way. They rushed to a bank that was in the middle of being robbed, but something seemed off to Nico, there was only one man seeming to hold it up.

"I don't like this, be careful." Nico warned her friends as the robber turned his attention on the heroes who just arrived.

"Welcome ladies, so glad you could join the party." Was all he said before there was an explosion.

Bakugo, Izuku and Todoroki finally got to the spot where they were meant to meet up with their fiancees, but the girls were nowhere to be found. "I told you we should have left earlier, I bet they left without us." Izuku scolded as he looked at the time, "We're over half an hour late."

"Not my fault there was a villain attack that shut down the subway, but it would have been worse if we were driving." Bakugo snapped back, digging out his phone. "I'll just call Nico and see where they got to."

The phone rang until it went to voicemail. _Sorry I missed your call, I'm probably elbow deep in a project but I'll give you a call back the first chance I get. Just leave your name and number and the date so I know when I've missed you. Mei, no I said put down the blow torch. Yes I know we're upgrading gear but he doesn't need anymore fire power._

Bakugo always laughed when he heard her greeting, knowing that she hadn't realized that the phone was still recording as she rushed off to get the over zealous gearhead she was working with under control.

"Went to voicemail too?" Todoroki asked as he hung up as well, "Something isn't right for none of them to answer." The guys shared a nervous look, "Maybe we should start looking around to see what we can find." They split up and went door to door, looking for the girls.

It felt like hours before they turned up any information. Bakugo had found his way to the bank, or what was left of it. One of the walls had been blown in, but luckily there wasn't anyone hurt.

"What happened here?" He asked as he pushed his way through the crowd.

"There was a robbery, from what we can tell there weren't too many people in here." One of the detectives answered. "I can't give you much more than that."

"What about three women, one would have cat ears and a tail." Bakugo had a feeling that Nico would have heard the alarms from where they were supposed to meet. "It's important that I know if she was here."

Bakugo's description of Nico caught the attention of one of the tellers, "She was here, right before the wall came down. The guy that was robbing us seemed to be waiting for her, like he used the robbery as bait." She made her way over, "Your lady and her friends were taken by him, I hope that you find them."

"Thanks, is there anything else you can tell me?" He asked but the teller just shook her head. "Alright, thanks again." Bakugo started back to where he had left the others.

"You look like you found something." Izuku noticed the dark look on his friend's face, "What happened?"

"They were taken, there was a bank that was being robbed but one of the tellers says that it was like the culprit was using it as bait for someone and took all of them." He filled them in as they hurried back to the subway. "We're going to go recruit some help in finding them."

A half hour later they were standing outside the main gate to the Gatta estate. "I thought Nico didn't want to involve her family in her life anymore." Izuku asked as Bakugo pressed the buzzer on the intercom.

"We're not equipped to find them on our own." Bakugo pressed the button again and again until he started pounding on the gate itself. "Listen here you assholes, one of your own is missing, you just going to stay locked away in there and do nothing?" he shouted.

"You don't need to yell." The gate opened and there stood Nick and Nina, "It's a wonder the Kit loves you with a temper like that." Nick grinned down at them, "What's got your fur in a bunch?"

"Nico and two of her friends were taken today. Some time in the last couple of hours." Bakugo snapped as Nico's aunt and uncle's expressions changed, became more serious.

"Talk while we walk, Nagisa needs to be notified." Nina waved them in as they went to the main house. "Every minute that creep has her is a minute too long."

The guys filled the Gattas in on what they knew as they rushed across the grounds, "Not good. I had a feeling that those letters weren't bull shit." Nick snapped, "We should have pulled the pair of you in to make sure nothing happened to you."

"Letters?" Todoroki asked, "Someone was making threats against your family?"

"Most of us make enemies over the course of our lives, threatening letters is nothing new for us." Nina explained, "But this last batch seemed different, they didn't name anyone, just said that they would be collecting the ones living outside the estate and selling them off to the highest bidder."

"I'm sorry, but you got a threat from some wack job saying they were going to kidnap your family members and didn't think to warn us?" Bakugo snapped at her, "My fiancee is missing because you didn't think much of a threat. What the hell is wrong with you people?"

"It wasn't their decision." Nagisa pulled all eyes on him. "I said to ignore it because there was no way that any of our people would be caught. It was a mistake on my part to not give Nicole any warning and now she's in danger."

"What's your plan on getting her back?" Izuku asked, "They not only have Nico but Ochaco and Momo. We need to get them back unharmed."

"And we will," Nagisa vowed, "I'm assuming that the three of you will be working with us." The three nodded, "Good. We're not going to be moving slow, so I hope you can keep up."


End file.
